Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

86 reviews

dusktreader's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

Jewell does a good job of creating tension and twists and in that way it’s a well-crafted book. I found it compelling and wanted to keep reading and found some of the ambiguity and questions the book were really interesting to think about, like

who really killed Brooke and why, and who knew what about it. The audio narration and production was really engaging. 

I had a lot of trouble with the position the book put me in as a reader where

we are set up to question whether Josie was groomed by an older man and whether it was not his fault after all if she made advances at him. It’s already so disgustingly common for people to doubt and question survivors of abuse, and look for ways that even children must have done something to deserve it, and just write it off. I was so uncomfortable being put in that position.

 

I think Jewell could have created the same experience for readers of a character who is either trapped and desperate or an evil mastermind or somewhere in between without leaning on common misconceptions about abuse, or by subverting them instead of conforming to them, which I think is a real missed opportunity and could have been a much stronger book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Grief, Child abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Death, and Emotional abuse

christianbookgirlie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pedophilia, and Blood

ciaravirk's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Child abuse

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

sophiesometimesreads's review

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

3.5

Firstly, please check full content warnings for this book before reading as it does deal with multiple intense topics such as domestic abuse, sexual abuse, addiction and adult/minor relationships.

I was invested enough in this story for the majority of the book (perhaps around 80%) to keep going to find out what happened but the ending fell kind of flat for me. There wasn't enough of a concrete conclusion for me, particularly on some of the more intense issues that were put out there. I did do some reading of peoples' opinions and interpretations afterwards and found a few good points about hints as to who may be lying and who may be telling the truth which I didn't pick up along the way and did intrigue me. I've also seen that the author has outlined who was telling the truth but I don't count this as the book should stand on its own legs and that should be put in the book explicitly if that's what we are supposed to know as an audience.

Though the relationship was originally portrayed to be bad, by the end I was left feeling like the husband wasn't supposed to be seen as a groomer and pedophile just because he was apparently a good father, which didn't sit well with me. I don't think it was the authors intention to say he should be completely redeemed but I think there should've been something in the ending that stated that even though the FMC may not be wholly good, she's still a victim as adults should never pursue relationships with minors and are ALWAYS the one at fault in said relationships. I think this topic should've been handled with a little more care and this is where it drops another part star for me.

Overall, it was gripping and a quick read but there were a few questionable moments throughout that I thought needed to be tied up better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Murder

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

nanirump's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Murder, Torture, and Toxic relationship

paula_jaramillo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Just make sure you read the trigger warnings before going into this book.

latashman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Listened to the audiobook and loved the cast and audio for the podcast sections. This book is really dark and has a lot of potentially triggering content, please check warnings. 

I liked that the ending is left a little open. We have a general idea of what happened, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle due to all the unreliable narrators in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

roselynreadsbooks'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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Addiction

Minor: Suicide