Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

23 reviews

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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

bo0ks_are_cool91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Best thriller I’ve read in a while! (I haven’t read any thrillers in a while) loved reading from both MCs perspectives, and the buildup was👏👏👏👏👏 lots of TWs though, so check those bedroom you read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Child death

Minor: Bullying

emmy_readz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.0

What did I just listen to? Way too many uncomfortable handlings of sensitive topics like child grooming, sexual assault, mental disability, mental health, the list goes on and on. It's like Jewell was trying to be edgy by including certain aspects but instead came across with him victim blaming energy. Alix's kids were an afterthought, honestly not even sure why they were included other than to make the two MC kids go to the same school and connect them. I think we were supposed to be unsure of who to believe with the dual POV and making Josie have a semi sympathetic voice but it came across as pathetic and selfish. Whether you believe Josie or not her motivations don't make sense regardless. The multimedia aspect of the podcast made it interesting and the pace was great. The audiobook is definitely worth a listen as it has a full cast and gives you the full multimedia experience. With the hype this book and Jewell as an author has, I'm pretty disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Gaslighting, Ableism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Alcohol

thetearex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Child death, Stalking, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Incest, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

silverhill's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

A total page-turner! Simultaneously horrifying and engrossing. Josie was awful, but I devoured the book to see what would happen or be revealed next. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

colorcrystals's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Stalking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Bullying

aliireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

Good book! It keeps you reading bc you want to know what is true and what isn’t. It is very disturbing and creepy/unsettling as Josie shares her story and as Alix learns the truth. Kind of disappointed that Josie is never found/caught. But the book ends well! It’s interesting how the story moves along between how it actually unfolded. , recording the podcast and the Netflix show. It is a dark book with some very violent and disturbing scenes, some parts are kind of underdeveloped (like Brooke and Roxy or Erin and Roxy), but the story moves along well. I would recommend this one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Rape

youmns's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

Significantly better than I thought it would be at first. Horrifying as a train wreck, equally difficult to look away.

I didn't think I'd enjoy this listen. Boy, was I wrong. The fully-voiced interjections add a lot to the story, adding a layer to the experience. This sort of thing isn't in my wheelhouse - trauma porn, beach read, that sort of thing - but, wow, was it well-written.

Josie starts out totally sympathetic, a pitiful woman who lost so much of her life trapped in an early marriage to a much older man. The more you hear about her life, the less sympathetic she is. Alix starts out the golden goddess, like so many influencers out there, putting out a certain image on her socials, but her life is shown to be just as normal as (or more dramatic than) the average person. None of the principal characters is who they appear to be. The title is pretty spot-on.

Just a note:

They're not actually birthday twins. Alix makes a comment about how they met in a pub on the eve of their birthday, meaning her own was on Sunday while it's established right away that Josie's is on Saturday.

Surprised nobody thought to check, frankly.

I don't think I'll seek out anything else by Lisa Jewell, but I wouldn't necessarily turn my nose up if a friend recommended it. What a ride.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Kidnapping, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Incest, Torture, Cursing, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

flamming_bluejeans's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Murder, Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Mental illness

Minor: Excrement, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dizpig's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Blood, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Mental illness, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Stalking, Medical trauma, and Infertility