Reviews tagging 'Grief'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

153 reviews

kashby's review against another edition

i liked the first two acts but when the theme went from being about how people who experience trauma sometimes gain the capability to harm others into how this girl is cray cray 😝 and forced an old man to date her i was kind of over it. the writing was really good but i just didn’t really fw the ending or how walter’s character was handled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic

laurrreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Well, without giving too much away, I’d say the title is fitting 😳

None of This is True is split into four parts and this story was absolutely mind blowing. part one primarily focuses on the build up of plot. Lisa Jewell spends a lot of time setting up and places pieces of information throughout this part of the book to be later investigated and explained. Part three was the standout of the book for me, I read, or rather listened, to the whole thing in one sitting. 

in my opinion, this book, while being a phenomenal mystery and suspense, is also a story about women. it captures both the mundane and unusual pains of marriage, womanhood, and raising children as well as exploring many themes of trauma. i feel it is rare to

find a book of this genre that can make me feel so many things. typically when reading a mystery or suspense book such as None of This is True, uncovering the truth is the whole plot and the biggest range of emotions i typically feel taps out around shock. but this book not only kept me guessing and surprised but also had me feeling the main characters’ range of emotions right along side them. 

None of This is True kept me guessing until the very last chapter, and I was genuinely speechless after finishing this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kitaface's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't know how to feel.

No one in the book is reliable or can be trusted, but it seems to be true that Josie and Walter's relationship began when she was a teenager and he was in his forties. HE IS A PEDOPHILE AND SHE WAS ABUSED. No matter what happened later or if she "manipulated him".

The audiobook has great production though, 5 stars for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

josiemeyer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

craigpwmoroney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book keeps you guessing until the end. It's narrative is told by multiple people each one, unreliable in some degree. It is hard hitting, but a very good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Grief and Pandemic/Epidemic

andieobrien99's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Woah! What a rollercoaster of a book!

It was creepy. It was intense. It was sad. It was good!

This was my first time reading one of Lisa’s books and honestly I have to read more! 

This gave me the chills reading it! 

The fact there’s people out in the world who are like that just gives me the heebee Jeebees

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

1.0

When it comes to ambiguous open endings, I usually don't mind because I can imagine what I want to follow as an epilogue.  That requires having a good foundation though and this book lacked that in spades.  When the title is the book, you question everything.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

heather_harrison's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

4.75 ⭐️

0.25 off because a pedophile is a pedophile not matter the twist

This had my jaw on the floor many times. Somebody order a wellness check for Lisa Jewel because her mind is just 🤯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Pedophilia

Minor: Drug use, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kecasey's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

bethghoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic