Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

37 reviews

elderwoodreads'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

I have to give this book credit where it is do, I definitely did not know what was going to happen next up until the final page. There were some minor typos I caught that broke me out of the story from time to time. Additionally, the story stuttered in a few places and I feel like it could have benefitted from one last clean up of some extraneous scenes. I did find it to be an engaging and entertaining read, and Fisher did a great job building the mystery. Definitely worth a try if you think it's up your alley. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, and Self harm

Minor: Drug use and Vomit

din0_bot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

readingtotravel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The whole exploitation of someone's mental illness turned me off to the book. What was a great book full od twists and turns ruined itself with a trashy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder

meluelmil's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

Started off interesting, but the ending fell flat. I love a good unreliable narrator, but this was too much. Many triggering topics that were not well addressed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Stalking, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Violence

alliedelexa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

this was my first book 2023 and it did not disappoint! this book left me feeling unsettled and not sure what or who to believe. a poster child of “unreliable narrator” 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

lindseyrenee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

While this was a page turner, I didn’t love it. The characters didn’t feel like they had any depth to them whatsoever. Each was described physically and given a profession, but that’s as far as it went. From the beginning there were unbelievable parts, mainly that someone would enter into a plural marriage and agree from day one to ask zero questions and be just okay with being kept a complete secret.

I also really didn’t love the idea of the twist only being mental illness and her ending up giving into the “crazy” by attacking Regina

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Infertility, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Infertility, Infidelity, and Gun violence

mangofraiche's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Death, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Violence

emilyspex's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

0.5

Um... Fucking WHAT??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent

chandlerwood's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

beckyremillard'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

3.25

The main character of this book (name not revealed until halfway through or so) is married to a man who has two other wives. She starts to be curious about Seth’s other wives and learns more than she expected. 

This book definitely held my attention. However, nothing was shocking and I found it to be predictable, which I don’t like my thrillers to be. 

The ending was also a bit rushed. We obviously get the reveal of the truth and see who is lying or telling the truth and it’s only a chapter or two of a conclusion without much contact to explain the issues that came up previously in the story. 

We’re obviously meant to question the narrator’s sanity but she barely questions it herself. She’s so convinced she’s right, it’s obvious that she isn’t. It was interesting but I wouldn’t say there’s a twist. 

Additionally, I was doubting the situation from the beginning because it didn’t seem to make sense, so I definitely expected the unreliable narrator. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Violence, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death and Transphobia