Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

22 reviews

leaxhue's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

hstcrow's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Reading this felt like holding my breath for five days. Wtf. Very intense, overwhelming, and jolting in terms of the realistic story & crime, and the alarming clarity of how broken the judicial system is, how tight a chokehold the patriarchy, class, and race have on our society. The ending was so perfect and clever. It’s supposed to reflect reality. This is such an incredible feat of a book. Hell yes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Grief, Misogyny, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Car accident, and Death of parent

ladawson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Death

edamamebean's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I feel like it’s important to say from the outset that this is not a murder mystery. It’s a meditation on racism, the justice system, and the constant, almost casual violence that is inflicted upon women. It asked a lot of really important questions and definitely got me thinking. Bodie’s own internal struggle reminded me of a time in my own life when I had to reexamine my high school memories after my favorite teacher was outed as a predator. Something I especially liked about this book was its ability to make clear that what happened to Thalia is not exceptional. In fact, it happens all the time. Worth the read. Although it is very heavy, the subject is handled with care and nuance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

mantissabolt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 This is called a "literary mystery", which means that all characters are flawed. She does a pretty good job of making most of the characters three-dimensional. 

It is not 100% clear who did it, though you are pretty sure. The person is probably did it, was never charged, but his life (and the life of his wife and children) is probably destroyed. The person who is in prison for the murder and probably did not do it, is still in prison, but may eventually get out. The person she spent about half the book thinking he had done the murder, did not but was a abuser of children and by inaction let a innocent man go to prison. 

 

She does a lot of interesting things in telling the story, like having a class on podcasting be a major vehicle to propel the story. Every once in a while, the main character gets upset by the news, but instead of it being "a" thing, she lists a whole series of real life events that could the thing that upset her. It always helps convey the sense of the story. I could see this trick being very annoying for some people, but I liked it. 

This is not a classical mystery and has only some of those tropes. This is very good, but not great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent and Eating disorder

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book where the narrator is addressing the possible killer directly throughout while telling the story of how events in the past and present unfolded. The story was a bit predictable but it took you on a wild ride before it got back to the obvious resolution, which was entertaining. The characters are loveable even though I’m not convinced they’re supposed to be. The plot was definitely believable as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Violence, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Murder, Bullying, Cancer, Rape, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Abortion, Blood, and Body shaming

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Death, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

mamaofperfectpayton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.75 stars. I liked the story, but the narrator was unreliable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Infidelity, and Racism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault

vavocado's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Child abuse

jsmileysad's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Wow. This is one of the best books I have listened to this year.  I find so many books ignore the interaction between social media and our daily lives, and how that has changed across time— this doesn’t AND without making that fact a focus. The idea of reaching back into time to find answers and justice follows multiple threads, and I think it is just a very clean, tidy read despite how fraught the subject matter. The book’s narrator is relatable, imperfect, interesting, and just trying to do the best she can. I saw a lot of women I know in this character. I think the conceit is clever and it is totally worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Racism