Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

3 reviews

minimicropup's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

1.0

I listened to the audiobook and the first bit was great - I was expecting it to continue where…

this couple starts off at super toxic codependent relationship vibes where you hate them but can’t look away as the husband scouts out vulnerable women and the wife kills them out of a mish-mashed motive of personality disordered revenge/rage/past trauma and they get away with it by copycat murdering

. Instead it was one of the most child-centric parenting struggle motif books I’ve ever read. Like a weird slowly evolving custody battle…It’s kind of impressive, that someone could write a serial killer duo turned spousal revenge story into a drama about the struggle of parents who probably don’t even want kids but have them now so they over-compensate and resent. That’s my take on it at least. Somehow this story was so boring, I kept waiting for the good parts to morph into something but it didn’t and there was a bit of villain monologue at the end. Mid book felt like a lot of Rory being into video games, bribing his dad, and sucking at school, and Jenna being too dense to read the room that no one cares about her sports points. Oh and the parents are so focused on hiding their serial killer lifestyle from their children that the kids are written as if they’re their landlord/boss/religious deity in a way. Sorry, it just wasn’t for me but I thought the premise was unique

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Torture

Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

Minor: Bullying and Domestic abuse

katiea714's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Torture, Death, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Bullying, Alcohol, Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit

moonwaterotter's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

I predicted the twists which took some of the fun out of it, but that’s my own fault for trying to solve the book as I read it. This is the second of Downing’s that I’ve read, and she writes from the perspective of the worst men i s2g.
All said, I did mostly enjoy it. I had an actually wtf moment halfway through the book and it was the biggest highlight for me.
And now here’s a list of my thoughts that is FULL of spoilers.

I almost DNF’d right off the bat when he first pretends to be “deaf Tobias” and ultimately realized that judging the moral compass of a serial killer is a stupid place to draw a line. But I still didn’t like that as an angle.
I immediately knew that Millicent was the “evil sister” growing up and waiting for the main character to realize that was absolutely agonizing.
I literally said “what the f-uck” out loud whenever they announced that Trista killed herself. Like at this point, I thought maybe she had helped Owen in the past (and maybe she did honestly who knows) but that’s not what I was expecting.
I also figured out Millicent was poisoning Jenna almost immediately. I thought the book was going to climax with Millicent saying she had kidnapped and killed all of the women because she was an Owen fan-girl and that she and Owen were going to murder Jenna together or something.
I thought Kekona was going to be the third victim and the cops were going to catch him at her house or something. I also thought the descriptions of Kekona were a bit strange and didn’t really sit right with me. (As well as the description of Trista’s sister at the funeral.)
I think it’s pretty fucked that the main character never tells Andy that he KNOWS WHY his wife killed herself.
The ending is cheeky but I wish they both died, not just Millicent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Kidnapping, Cursing, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Stalking, Torture, Car accident, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship