Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

10 reviews

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Death, Pregnancy, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Car accident, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

bringmybooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Another #12BooksRecommendedby12Friends book finished!

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this; I had gotten We Are The Brennans from BOTM (Book of the Month) a while ago, and honestly other than the family having connections to (and/or living in) Ireland, I didn't remember much about the synopsis.

It's a book about family. The family you're born into, the family you choose, and the family you sometimes have to leave. It was a somewhat weird read, because while I didn't feel myself overly emotionally attached to any of the characters of the plotlines, I couldn't put the book down? 

My favorite part of the book was the multiple POV narration, and especially the way the narrators switched off. Whichever character spoke last at the end of a chapter, their quote would be repeated at the beginning of the next chapter and the POV would switch to them. It had this really neat effect of having you follow the story throughout the book in a seamless and (almost interactive?) way that I really liked. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go start planning yet another fantasy trip to Ireland because I have wanted to go since I was maybe 6 years old? And that was 30 years ago? Sigh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Car accident, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Infidelity, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Rape

Minor: Pregnancy

cassielaj's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-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

4.5

This is a complex family story full of distinct characters, dramatic secrets, and sweet moments. I loved it, and the way the story is structured made it even better. Each chapter focuses on a single character’s POV, and the present-day story is woven with flashbacks and deep internal thoughts. It’s so impressive that the author was able to craft so many characters so thoroughly and keep each perspective unique. 

I do think that the issue of class could’ve been handled better. Billy was a bad guy, clearly, but he had struggles that weren’t addressed. Then the author also made Vivienne resentful and a “bad guy” in a similar way… everyone else got redeemed (except Billy, rip), but her one chapter didn’t do much to make me sympathetic to her, even though I wanted to be because her husband was clearly in love with another woman the whole time. Having her resent the Brennans in the same way Billy did and having the reasons they hated the Brennans be true kind of emphasized the insularity of the Brennan clan and contributed to that “Brennan worship” that they tried to criticize. It doesn’t excuse what Billy did in any way, I just think there was more opportunity for commentary than was taken. Still an excellent story

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Violence

magicschooltokoro's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

alisonreadsitall's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

This book sucked me in and spit me out. I typically don’t read a lot of dramas, but this was a truly exceptional book! You really felt like you could be a part of this family, dysfunction and all. 

Multiple POV ✔️
Family Secrets✔️
Strong Family Bonds ✔️
A Touch of Romance ✔️
What more could you ask for?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Miscarriage

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Murder and Emotional abuse

jmariereads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Grief, Emotional abuse, Dementia, and Car accident

Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Death, and Abandonment

kloft1993's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

alimoo511's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Okay so I loved this. Every part of this book was five stars...except the ending...and I will tell you why the ending killed EVERYTHING ELSE

So Kale leaves his stupid wife and is scared about Luke not thinking he loves him and that the Brennans might hate him

Sunday is figuring herself out and is healing WE LOVE A QUEEN

And Mickey killed the bastard Bill. 

It ends with Kale and Sunday talking and getting closer, and finding out the Dad used their autistic brother as an accessory for murder and that's it. We don't know how Sunday and Kale are going to recover their relationship IF they are going to recover their relationship. 

We don't know HOW the pub is going to stay afloat AND we don't know how they're going to keep their Father and Shane out of jail. 

Nothing important got resolved. It feels like I was given half a book and I NEED the other half more than everything. 


But seriously everything else was AMAZING the family dynamics? PHENOMENAL the plot? UNMATCHED the characters? I WANNA BE THIS FAMILY 

KALE IS A FUCKING SWEETHEART AND BABY I AM ROOTING FOR YOU 

This family isn't without its faults but that makes them realistic and lovable. I just wish the ending wasn't the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Car accident, Alcohol, Ableism, and Abandonment

Victim blaming

lorinew1's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Car accident

naomidanae's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Car accident

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Chronic illness, Gaslighting, and Murder