Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

7 reviews

loonysaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Drug use, Misogyny, Body horror, Physical abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Violence, Alcoholism, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Animal death, Miscarriage, and Gun violence

ksmo's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

I really enjoyed listening to most of this audiobook, but I was so unsatisfied with the ending. It seems as though the author's message is

that it's fine if you kill people, as long as you only kill bad people, because the police are too stupid to figure that out. And even if you're pretty sure they have figured it out, they'll still take some weird pity on you and just let you live happily ever after. There was so much energy and anticipation built up for when Henry finally found Finn, and then they just had a chat? This drunk, narcissistic man who's been obsessed with this person for over 20 years finally tracks down the object of his obsession, while frantically saying he 'wanted to kill someone', and then he pushes him onto a sofa but is otherwise lucid and chill enough to just talk??

I was also just very surprised at the complete lack of accountability. I thought the same at the end of the first book, and thought that surely things would come to a head in this sequel, but everyone just got away with everything and went and had a family garden party. And Henry's adoption of other people's entire identities is treated as an 'Oh what is he like' character quirk, rather than completely insane.

I was quite invested in Rachel as a character,

but again that all got nicely tied off with a bow of 'Yeah he's dead and my dad got his money back, so everything's sunshine and roses'.

All of the endings and resolutions just feel rushed and too easy to me, so I finished both books kind of annoyed and disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Child abuse

jaydub0221's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Since this sequel serves a purpose of tying up loose ends & filling in the blanks, it wasn’t as thrilling or nail-biting as “The Family Upstairs”. BUT that being said, I still enjoyed it for what it was and I was happy to delve back into the lives of the Lambs. I appreciated the additional storylines and characters that tacked onto the original story, and although the loose ends were tied up just a liiiiiittle too neatly for my liking, I would still recommend this to anyone that has read the first (and if you haven’t read the first, you absolutely should).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, and Death

Minor: Abortion, Infertility, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Dementia

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Confinement, and Stalking

rosewhybx's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Rape

kernowme's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Confinement, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Animal death

kelseyr713's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.5

I came to the realization after finishing that ultimately this sequel doesn’t contain any big mysteries or twists; it’s a character study. Everything big was revealed in the first novel, and this deals with the aftermath of that trauma through the eyes of a few different characters.

I felt that Rachel’s plotline (which mostly took place in the past) was a bit of filler, but was really well done and I absolutely found myself cheering her on.

My stomach was in knots at points from needing to know what happened next! Very difficult to put down. I was very satisfied with the conclusion and it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger this time.

Content warning: rape (specifically spousal rape)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Abandonment, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Confinement, Cursing, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit, Murder, Racism, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Death of parent