Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

15 reviews

therecoveringbookworm's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Drug abuse

phantomgecko's review

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Intriguing historical fiction. Depictions of the customs of the time are fascinating. Foot binding, marriage tradition, family structure.

Kind of reminded me of Atonement by Ian McEwan. Y'know, protagonist makes a mistake to the detriment of a loved one that haunts them the rest of their life. This affected me more emotionally, but that's due to any number of circumstances.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Body horror, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness

cait's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Vomit, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Cancer, Child abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Physical abuse, War, Death, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail

mtnest's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Physical abuse, Child death, Grief, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Excrement, Suicide, Infertility, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and War

withloveandlights's review

informative sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I was really captivated by the story during the Milk Days: learning about the restrictions Lily faced bwing a young girl, saddened by the hardships Lily faced, discovering Lily's laotong and how their relationship would shape each of their futures.

Unfortunately, I began to lose interest during the Hair Pining Days and then I was left wanting during the Rice and Salt Days. The main conflict that would arise between Lily and Snow Flower seemed evident from very early on in the Milk Days. I also didn't enjoy how family betrayals seemed to come across as superficial when, I would assume and as it is referenced within the novel, back in that time of history betrayal could shape the course of someone's or an entire generation's future. 

The Milk Days early in the book are really what drew me into the novel and for the large amount of time dedicated to the remaining sections, it ultimately left me feeling like the pace of the book was dragging on and when it had so much early potential. Still a beautiful and harrowing historical fiction, that leans more historical.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child abuse

mereileen's review

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Child abuse

strawbibble's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Ableism, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Abandonment, Body shaming, Cancer, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, and Infertility

mergwenthur's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

where do i even begin with this review! i loved this book, it was so beautifully well written. 

i read the journey of lily through her childhood to her old age and viewed her relationship with snow flower and how both of them developed individually and as same-olds. 

set in mid-1800s i read as lily and snow flower dealt with things such as footbindings, tragedies, love, death, marriage and children. 

cultural and society traditions were adapted and the challenges lily and snow flower went through were eye opening. 

it was a beautiful yet tragic story which leaves you with so many emotions

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, War, Violence, Miscarriage, Medical content, Grief, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child death, and Classism

thejediwitch's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is intense. It took me a whole day to finish but it was very worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Grief, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, War, Suicide, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Body shaming

johannslauren15's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

  This book was really interesting to read if you want to learn more about Ancient Chinese women lifestyles. I think this book taught me a lot about how women were raised with foot binding and the importance they put women through cleaning, knitting, cooking, raising children, and of course bearing a male heir. I loved to learn about how women were raised in compare to men. I fell in love with the relationship between Lily and Snow Flower. 

The ending made me so sad I wished Lily did not hold those grudges and assumptions against Snow Flower since she went through so much going through marrying an abusive husband and his family then losing 4 children. Even with her childhood of her father misusing her family and getting addicted to opium. Lily really did not have to judge her for that after losing everything with her natal family and in-laws. I really appreciate how she showed how fame/power can get to your ego if you let it. Where at the beginning Lily promised she would never misuse her power like her mother-in-law did because she came from a poor family. At the end of the day she realized a lot of people were just using or being nice to her for looks and in marrying well. 

  Definitely read this book if you want to learn more about Ancient Chinese culture and lifestyles but do be aware how intricate and detailed her writing is while reading traumatic events. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Death, Infertility, and Miscarriage