Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

105 reviews

minimicropup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

Amazinggg. The plot and the writing and the characters are so well developed and everything seems to jump off the page. The audiobook narration is excellent. If you are looking for a thriller but one with a lot of depth this is an excellent choice. If you aren’t a fan of books involving cults I think it’s still worth giving this a try - without giving away any spoilers, the cult aspect isn’t quite as it seems. More conman-woman type. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Murder

passionatereader78's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

A tragic story with a happy ending. Reading this book was heartbreaking. A family falls on hard times and let's the wrong people move in. The  Irresponsible Adults were ruining their children's lives by abusing and starving them. This is a must read thriller. There were so many Twist and turns in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Confinement, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

dyeganian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

batcaves's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Animal death, Rape, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Infertility, Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Chronic illness

peeshpish's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

It was a slow start but once it picks up, it moves fast. The story flows well once the three POVs become more closely intertwined & the connections are more clear. There are many twists & turns along the way, & the story continues to develop until the very last sentence. Libby’s POV is an often needed relief from the heaviness of the other two, much less tense but still moves the story forward. Many characters felt flat or aligned with stereotypes that I’d expect more from a book written earlier than one written in 2019, but I still ended up reading most of the book in one sitting so I was definitely invested.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Suicide, Homophobia, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Infertility, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Blood, and Pedophilia

Lucy’s chapters are heavy with

sexual assault & domestic violence. She is raped & murders her attacker. If it helps to know, she is not punished for killing him.

The chapters set in the past (labelled “Chelsea, [year]”) contain a lot lf

child abuse, domestic violence, & are where most of the content warnings come into play.

Libby’s chapters are generally safe for content, mostly vague details about the fate & story of the people who lived in the house she inherits.

dilani's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I thought I had an idea of what this book was going to be until I got 20% of the way in. There were moments that were dark and gritty. It still made me want to keep reading. I enjoyed the writing for the most part and the way characters interacted.

 There were three different POV’s from Libby, Lucy, and Henry. I saw the connection Jewell was trying to form between the three but it got too confusing at times. I did like the ending and am very interested in seeing where this family will end up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

sparetimebibliophile's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.25

I wasn’t a huge fan of this. I did like the audiobook with the three different narrators, but this seemed very confusing to me and a lot of things were thrown at you in the last 5% of the book that made it hard to follow. It almost seemed like there was too much going on and too many different secrets of each character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

jaydub0221's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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 abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Deportation, and Homophobia

thatssoshauna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Murder

theimposter's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage