Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

89 reviews

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Vomit, Dementia, and Suicide attempt

kariereads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

a little disappointed by this book, especially after really loving Jar of Hearts! i guess i was just expecting more of a mystery, even the twists that happened at the end didn't really shock me. the main character was interesting enough to keep reading, and i wish

we would've gotten more insight in to her & drew's relationship in the past.

overall, i wanted more from this book but it was a miss for me. still excited to make my way through Jennifer's backlist!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I love a good mystery. I also love when I can call any part of the book. Which in this case was only 1/5 twists. But I’ll take it! It’s a page turner that I couldn’t put down. Definitely worth the read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

goodgolleemissmollee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.5

This was a quick, easy read that was largely enjoyable. But I think it was just average. Nothing overly exciting or shocking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Dementia, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

haleysversion's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lindsays_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

denisse_hg's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

cpoole's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Suicide

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This is my first book by Jennifer Hillier and unfortunately it wasn’t a win for me. I really enjoyed the first quarter of the story from Paris Peralta’s perspective as she’s trying to navigate the criminal justice system after the suspicious death of her much older husband. I found this part intriguing and mysterious, but once it transitioned to the second part where the focus was on Drew, I just did not feel engaged with the story. I found Drew’s judgmental and slut-shaming attitude really through me off.

And just a heads up, there’s a huge focus on detailed child abuse and trauma, which I was not expecting from this book, and I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up if I had known that. As well, the mystery seemed to have just been figured out about halfway through, and then just when the tension started rising again, everything just sort of resolved itself, so it just left me feeling like everything wrapped up way too quickly, which was unsatisfying. 

I did enjoy Hillier’s writing style though and I’d definitely still be willing to check out more by this author—if you’ve read anything else by her, let me know another of hers that I should pick up.

Thanks St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books & Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

breacommelafromage's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury