Reviews tagging 'Torture'

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

40 reviews

girrllie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.0

Like binge watching a show and getting to the end and saying, “What did I just read?” A waste of my life even though the writing is excellent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Stalking, Kidnapping, Grief, Child death, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Gore, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

hillarym's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Kidnapping, Death, Blood, Torture, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse

coco78337's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Excrement, Pregnancy, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Pandemic/Epidemic

brittonmc1221's review against another edition

mysterious tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

amirahazhar's review against another edition

4.0

Would have given this a 5 if not for the vague ending.

TW: pedophilia, grooming and rape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Rape, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Incest

graciegru's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Torture

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Pedophilia

Minor: Pregnancy

tenstef's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.75

wow - so this was a ride. I think I needed something like this to just get me cruising through reading. I enjoyed the trip this book took me on. 

I was both excited and disappointed by the ending. I do agree with others that just shifting the blame on Jodie while inherently the relationship she had with Walter was fucked up. But, I do think the author leaves clues that while yes, Jodie is truly fucked up she did somewhat mean well?? Maybe I'm crazy and I'm believing her too much but what if Roxie actually did kill Brooke??? I also do think she hated Nathan but I do believe she did not mean to kill him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Stalking, Alcohol, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

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

lotusnoelle's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Gaslighting, Murder, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Torture, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Grief, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, and Stalking

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