Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Girl A by Abigail Dean

12 reviews

carmencolette's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Death, Addiction, Violence, Suicide, Torture, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Child death, and Child abuse

kelseygrachek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Self harm, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Body horror, and Misogyny

becksreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Child abuse, Confinement, and Pregnancy

annabulkowski'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? 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, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Vomit, Child death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Stalking, and Sexual violence

caitmcv's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Suicide

laurenipsum's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

roselouisa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

suzyh5317's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Excrement, Child death, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Murder

dayday_reads's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Where to begin? I hated this book and I had super high hopes for it. I guess it's marketed as a thriller but I didn't know that, I just thought the premise sounded great. It starts off confusing, has a few bright spots, but mostly just dragged for me. So let's talk about what I didn't like: 
Problem#1: the characters 
I never understood what people meant about enjoying character-driven stories until now. I couldn't connect with ANY of the characters.  I didn't care about them or their plight and I was uninterested and unmoved by them. This has never happened to me where there wasn't at least one character I liked.  I hated all of them, including Girl A (Lexi) herself. She has issues with a capital I and although she had tons of therapy, so much i still unresolved. I won't even get in yo my issues with the rest of the siblings.

Problem #2: character development (or lack thereof) 
You got no sense of who the siblings really were as people because we saw everything through Lexi's lens. So they don't have the nuance that fully developed characters do. You get glimpsed in to them but not the why's and wherefore of it all. They do provide some context and help the story along but that's about it.

Problem #3: the chapter lengths! OMG. It was like they were never-ending. At first, I thought that I had missed something but nope. They really are one great long chapter. This probably would've been okay if the perspective of the actual character the chapter was about had been presented, but no.

Problem #4: the "twists"
They actually aren't bad per se. I felt dumb for not immediately seeing the first one as it was kinda in your face all along and I had QUESTIONS that the twist answered. Should've seen it coming and when it did I flipped back through the book and went; OH. Now these things make sense. Except there's no real resolution for them. Also the last twist (at least that I noticed) just solidified my feelings regarding a certain character. 

***Note: I understand that 1 & 2 are very similar and related but I feel like in this case, they are two separate issues***

Now for the good: I didn't enjoy my time with this book so I don't have much good to say. It is a character study in trauma, grief, PTSD and family. So there's that.

Overall, I don't think that I'd personally recommend this to anyone although lots of people have enjoyed it. Trgger and content warnings abound so be sure to check those out before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

abookandaspotoftea's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Self harm

Minor: Homophobia