Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

18 reviews

atamano's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Sexism, Abandonment, Body shaming, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Grief

Minor: Dementia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Classism, Cursing, and Infidelity

hailey_alexis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

eachz's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Pros: The way secrets were gradually revealed kept me very invested in the mystery / plot. I appreciated the compassionate lens of the novel and the research the author did to handle the setting.

Cons: Something about the narrator felt stiff and unrealistic; I found the tone of the narration just ever so slightly annoying. The resolution of the main mystery also felt a little too quick and neat. Edited to add: I read another review that articulated one of my issues with this book well -- despite the heavy/emotional topics this book deals with, the narration style (and frankly the boring-ness of the MC) was such that I didn't really *feel* much reading this other than curiosity about the plot.

Overall I enjoyed reading this; a solid read that kept me hooked for a few days! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood and Infidelity

momocandy74's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.5

As a Philadelphia native, I loved all the name dropping of Philly landmarks (KOP, K&A, Franklin Institute, Mummer's Parade, Center City, the El, Academy of Music, Broad Street, the Ave, and probably more that I'm missing). I was surprised that the author isn't actually from here, and she clearly did her research with the locals. Especially when it comes to the culture around catholic schools and public schools, especially in the North/Northeast. 

However....I didn't love it. The ending was a little anti-climactic and

as happy as I was to learn that Kacey was safe and getting clean, her having been hiding away at their father's this entire time just felt so aggravating to me. After all that, she was in Delaware the entire time. And the reveal of who the killer was? I wish we had spent more time with him, making his guilt as the man killing these girls in the neighborhood have a little more weight, his reveal left me a little confused at first because i had honestly forgotten about him.

Overall though, a very well researched story taking place in Kensington and you can tell from every page that a lot of care was given to staying true to the locals and trying to tell the story from the point of a view of a local as best as possible, and I think she succeeded. Wasn't a huge fan of the overall plot (mostly just the ending), but I have to give credit for a great Philadelphia setting. 3.5! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Stalking, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Police brutality

leah_mm_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Police brutality

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was very good, but a hard read. The subject matter is dark and the implications are dark as well. That being said it’s so important to read about this. I do have to say the writing style of this is so odd and took me a while to get into. I think if this was written differently it could have been a five star and maybe more emotional. As for the thriller/mystery aspect it really wasn’t the main plot( and I found it predictable), but I still enjoyed it and that it was underlying. I really enjoyed learning more about the sister relationship and the family dynamics. I do have to say I didn’t love the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual violence, Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Classism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Grief, and Trafficking

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

shainabriley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy

betsygrace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

I actually think this book is a great depiction of the reality of today’s opioid crisis. The plot had enough twists to keep me entertained and enough resolution by the time it ended, so I liked it quite a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Medical content, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Stalking, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Classism, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

ncm5228's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.5

It started out slow and I thought I wouldn’t like it, but then it got much better and I was hooked!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship