Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Cry Baby - Scharfe Schnitte by Gillian Flynn

74 reviews

mraddd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Self harm, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Pedophilia

danielakalexandra's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

I second what another review said that the writing truly makes the small town a character of its own. 

I almost wanted more of the family dynamic to be the focus, even if it definitely is a big part of the story. I would have enjoyed more history of the family members, a deeper look at what made them who they had become. But on the other hand, the feeling of being a bit kept in the dark also helps with the weird and distant family dynamic pictured.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Grief, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Child death, Vomit, Self harm, Murder, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol

betherly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Sharp Objects first introduces us to Camille - a reporter living in Chicago with self harm tendencies and recently out of a stint in a psychiatric ward. Over the course of the book the extent of this and the background that led to this gets unravelled as the murder of two young girls in her home town leads her to return home.

Enjoy probably isn’t the right word for this book. I struggled to put it down and devoured the pages quickly and with fascination and a need to know how it ended. But enjoyment would be a weird emotion to use to describe the feelings conjured by the detailed scenes and bizarre and incredibly disturbing behaviour depicted. I would definitely warn that there are triggering subjects regarding child abuse and rape that I struggled to read. 

With regard the mystery itself, I didn’t truly know who had done it until the final chapter with the twists and turns the story took. I definitely had my suspicions between a couple of characters in particular but definitely got surprised by the final reveals. 

A good crime mystery thriller but lost a star for me due to the extent of the scenes depicted and struggling through them. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Child abuse, Bullying, Drug abuse, and Rape

thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual violence, Gore, Vomit, Medical trauma, Grief, Death, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Blood, Sexual content, Rape, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, and Emotional abuse

taylermonster's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Death, Terminal illness, Incest, Grief, Drug use, Child abuse, Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

nightingalehero's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

2.5

The writing of the book is beautiful. The plot is intriguing. The reason for the low review is entirely on personal taste. I personally disliked the characters. I personally disliked many of the scenes. The mystery was well crafted, it just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Child death, Classism, and Gaslighting

sierra_alexis's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.75

Book was pretty flat and so were the characters but it proved interesting especially

in the end with the Amma plot twist. You could sort of see it coming and it was so close to the end that it wasn't really enough to help the rest of the book but I’m glad it was there

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Fatphobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Mental illness, and Suicide

morepeachyogurt'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

4.5

very well written and engaging!

i fucking knew it was amma

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

turtlebread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed many things about this book. The writing flows well and easy to read, the premise is compelling, the world building makes the setting feel very lived in. However, much like Gone Girl, I was let down by the explanation of the central mystery. The real mystery isn't even resolved until the epilogue in an almost throwaway line, which was weird and kind of off-putting. Gillian Flynn has a style of 'twist' that is just not for me. It almost feels like these 'twists' are just employed in an effort to be provocative as opposed to creating a cohesive narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal death and Fatphobia

tortoisemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Mental illness, Child death, and Self harm