Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

7 reviews

alexklinect's review

lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars… Interesting, but unnecessarily long. I found the story wasn’t as redemptive as I had hoped. Lots of back and forth and perspective shifts in the timeline. Be aware that there is sexual content and abuse portrayed, though nothing explicit.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide and War

nicholeigh's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

Moderate: Rape and Domestic abuse

_alyssar_'s review

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Rape, Terminal illness, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

klawrence1206's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Domestic abuse

vixenreader's review

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-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

2.5

For a book about Agatha Christie’s disappointment, it runs into more cliches than a bad mystery novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and War

Minor: Racism

There is starvation and emotional abuse of young woman at the hand of religious figures.

molly0909's review

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, War, Death, and Domestic abuse

jukietoss's review

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

3.5

I really like the concept of telling a story of Agatha Christie's 11-day disappearance, and I thought the story de Gramont conjured was quite compelling. It incorporated both romance and mystery in really satisfying ways. Where it fell down for me was in how it executed that narrative: the book's structure was really disjointed which made it hard to stay engaged. I understand what de Gramont was trying to do and why she told the story asynchronously, but the way it played out was disruptive and led to some reveals that felt premature or repetitive. De Gramont didn't just look backward in time to contextualize the present--she also did a lot of foreshadowing or explicitly naming what would take place years into the future. I found these forward-looking reveals distracting. The stories from the past were important to the story, but I think they could have been incorporated or examined more elegantly. 

That said, the overall story was fun, and there were glimmers of ambience that showed really strong world-building and the ability to sweep the reader away. These were often interrupted by other locations or time periods, but I enjoyed the moments of respite where I could get swept up in Christie's story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Child death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, War, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Infertility