Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

49 reviews

nap_queen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

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

crazybooklady89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow! Every single time you think you have this story sorted out you turn the page and realize you have it all wrong. Even until the very last page, everything continued to change and turn. What a ride! 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Rape, and Suicide

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

manda434's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

An interesting answer to the question what if a borderline personality disordered woman was a main character in a thriller.  Fast and interesting.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

cmpepper's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pedophilia, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism

pippamillerxoxo_'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

rachrreads'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
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I could not stop reading this one and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Two women, one birthday. On Alix Summers’ 45th birthday, she crosses paths with Josie Fair who is also turning 45 that day. They exchange a few words and that’s it. A few days later Josie shows up outside of Alix’s kids school. Josie mentions she has heard Alix’s podcast and thinks she’d be a great subject for a new podcast as she’s on the brink of a great life change.

Alix is hesitant at first and gives Josie a brush off, but after some persuading she agrees. As Alix learns more about Josie, she feels unsettled, but she pushes forward nonetheless— certain there is a great story underneath.
Suddenly Josie has infiltrated Alix’s life, even giving advice about Alix’s husband. When Josie disappears and Alix finds herself in the center of what has become a true crime podcast— with her and her families lives at stake.

I went into this knowing nothing other than it was a top choice thriller in 2023 and was highly rated. I bought a copy for my cousin for Christmas and when it came damaged, I kept the damaged copy and got sent a new one.

Just as I thought the worse possible thing could be unveiled, BAM something new would be just around the corner. The ending leaves you reeling with questions— who can you believe?

Also I love how throughout the book there’s snippets of the story in a Netflix style true crime documentary. It made it feel all the more real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Gaslighting, Murder, Body horror, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Abandonment, and Addiction

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I thought this book was fantastic. The use of interesting but unreliable characters has you hooked the entire way through. As you slowly start to figure out what is happening, putting the pieces together to solve the mystery of the main character, you realize that everyone is lying. Not just her. 

The ONLY thing I didn’t like was the fact that they tried to make a literal PEDOPHILE a victim in this book. No thanks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Abandonment, Grief, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Blood, Confinement, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship