Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Bad Fruit by Ella King

27 reviews

desertwomanphx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

How can I start…wow. This book was one that I had to close, take a breather, than dive back in. Lily is a smart young woman who is held down by her narcissistic mother and emotionally absent father. She struggles with memories that her mind has kept her from, as protection. But they become stronger and stronger making her get to the bottom of what she is remembering. I loved this book, it is heartbreakingly beautiful. I’m glad it ended the way it did. Gives me encouragement for my own situation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Rape

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

considering the streak I had with most dark fiction recently, I thought this was going to be something similar, but oh BOY, my heart feels like there's a knife in it.

very well written; the tensest scenes were carried out perfectly, sharp and cruel as they are said to have been portrayed and the slow unravelling into Lily's past abuse and her mother's abuse was incredibly gripping, while also haunting and terrifying. definitely, Lily and May's relationship was this story's strongest trait. her relationship with her siblings was painful to read, but I really appreciated the nuance and realistic manner they were portrayed.

when I put this onto my TBR, I was told that her siblings made fun of Lily for doing what she did, but honestly, it came off more like they didn't understand why she was doing it when Julia was crueler and Jacob more distant and were trying to get her to stop, which is what makes their relationship so heartbreaking for me.

 

this review (https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/20e94bb5-edc3-46ab-8a0e-9c03a7b89f7b) (help idk how links work here) sums up everything I'm unable to say about this book (I literally just finished reading it) but, yeah, a really great piece of work.

also, this has to be what those American girlies feel like when they see their town represented in fiction because I had the biggest jumpscare when I saw my school's borough and village was this book's setting. I don't know if that grounds this book more for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Rape

chaoticallyqueercoded's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

3.75

Dark, almost felt like a car crash, gruesome but you could not look away. Well written. Audiobook did not include any content warnings, btw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Abandonment, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Self harm

loafwithsoph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

krudereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

alpal_collective's review

challenging dark emotional 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: Mental illness, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Self harm

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Murder, Dysphoria, and Car accident

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

emmanoellovato's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Okay this is objectively a five star book, but I also wish that I could forget I read it. Just so captivating, but also incredibly disturbing. I don’t feel great after reading it, but I also couldn’t put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Incest, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Car accident

batcaves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, Incest, Violence, Bullying, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Abandonment, Confinement, Eating disorder, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

angelajzhu's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

krys_kilz's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book was a challenging read. It focuses heavily on abusive family dynamics and intergenerational trauma, but I don't think it crossed the line into exploitation or trauma porn. Instead it really encompassed how all consuming abusive relationships can be and the way trauma impacts memory and one's sense of self. 

The relationship between Lily and her mother was particularly powerful. I appreciated how Mei's own traumas were revealed as Lily slowly began to unravel why her mother was the way she was. And I also appreciate that Lily still left in the end and didn't necessarily forgive her mother's actions. Her mother's own history of abuse was an explanation, not an excuse for her behavior.

I would also just like to note, I wouldn't really consider this book to be a thriller. It has somewhat similar pacing along with the slowly unraveling storylines, but it's different. I'm not sure why it was marketed that way on Storygraph. 

tw: abuse, trauma, self harm, r*pe

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Self harm

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Car accident