Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

12 reviews

saara_ilona_muu's review

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Danielle Vitalis narrated this book in an incredibly monotonous tone. The story, itself, is very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Sexual content

boba_n_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I am absolutely blown away by Cherie Jones’ novel. I can’t believe this is a debut! 

The way the characters’ stories weaved together seamlessly keeps the reader wanting more. 

Some books I find the need to keep a pen nearby because so many phrases strike me as beautiful—this was one of those books. I’d describe much of the prose as poetic. And this flow made me fly through the pages. 

The mystery, intrigue, suspicions, and relationships really make this story come to life. You get to know each character deeply through their backstories and similar traumas. Jones brings the past and present together with ease showing the reader how we’re all connected at the end of the day. 

I highly recommend this book. But definitely check the content warnings since many heavy topics are explored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Child death, Grief, Rape, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Minor: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death

kashby's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Infertility, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, and Toxic relationship

sierranichole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

     this book is just excellent. so flawless. it is easily my favorite and most important book i have read yet. it really made me think and reflect. cherie jones did a marvelous job.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Incest, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Abortion, and Excrement

annabulkowski's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Incest, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, and Confinement

booklover_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

If I were to summarise this book in a sentence - a Shakespearean love tragedy, set in Barbados. 

This book is a highly emotive story of the underbelly of Barbados. It beautifully depicts the cyclic nature of abuse and the struggle to break away from the strong hold of intergenerational trauma. We see the rawness and vulnerabilities of each character and their backstories highlight the ways in which family and environment play a pivotal role in our development.

Although quite tragic, the book has an authentic ending that adds to the underlying themes explored. I couldn’t put the book down - highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual content, and Violence

jennikreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

5.0

 HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE tells the stories of a handful of people in an island town. Two very traumatic things happen right at the beginning of the story that set the stage for the story to unfold. It’s a little bit mystery and a whole lot character study. 

 

This is gorgeously written and I could not put it down. The story that unfolds is so layered and nuanced. I loved that Jones would slip in the stories of other characters, told from their perspectives, that we could easily assume we would only hear about from the perspectives of others. It gave such a rich entangled feel to the story and made your heart ache just that much more for the central characters. 

 

I was honestly very hesitant to read this one after hearing everyone who mentioned it shout from the roof top that it was brutal and the list of content warnings (right fully so) were endless. But, a fellow bookstagrammer spoke about it in a way that intrigued me and when I reached out to ask her about her reading experience. She assured me that it is not gratuitous. And that’s absolutely true. 

 

The violence and abuse in this book are absolutely unsettling, and will genuinely trigger some people, but they are not without context and they are never there for the sake of shock. While the content warnings span the entire length of the novel, there are definitely what I would call breaks from that type of content to let your mind breathe. 

 

All that to say, that if you, like me, were unsure whether this would be for you, give it a go, but please review the content warnings first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

This is a multi-pov novel set in Barbados in (aside from a few flashbacks) 1984 showcasing the explosive ways several people’s disparate lives come together in one moment in time. 

This book left me a little conflicted. In a general technical sense, the writing is beautiful, particularly in the sections in second person, and while there was sort of a feeling of being somehow distanced from the characters I think that might be necessary to get through some of the story’s tough subject matter.

I was expecting a heavy read but maybe not quite this heavy. The hopeful note at the end was nice but I was left wondering what I should be taking away aside from how difficult everyone's lives were.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Police brutality, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, and Stalking

Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Drug use, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Vomit

womanwill's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility and Infidelity

Minor: Abortion, Dementia, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

kearac's review against another edition

dark

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence