Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash

16 reviews

brinnavirginia's review

emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Animal death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Dementia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Violence, Outing, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Murder, and Transphobia

inkylabyrinth's review

dark emotional tense

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

2.0

This was more bleak than expected, and it was missing some of the dark humor and campness from the first few chapters. Still, I simply could not put it down. Full of intrigue and court room drama, it's more a grim coming-of-age than a thriller for sure.

I wish there was less "and that's when my life was about to get much worse" and more trust that the story was unfolding just fine on its own. But the writing went down ever so smoothly, and I will be keeping my eye on what else Thrash writes.

However, setting your book in the 90s is not an excuse to use the R slur over and over. It was quite unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Sexual violence and Child abuse

Minor: Ableism

melsuke's review

dark funny tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Gun violence, Animal death, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Racism, Blood, Ableism, Child abuse, and Murder

Language jump scares!

savshelfinger's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

great novel to disappear into but NOT a light read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Addiction, and Bullying

Minor: Drug abuse

nervousleigh's review

I thought this was going to be VERY different than it is, I was absolutely not in the right headspace for this book. I expected it to be heavy based on the subject matter, but it is so much more intense than it seemed like it would be - and it’s only going to get worse, based on other reviews I read after getting through the small bit I did. Frankly, I feel misled about the tone, and although I may have eventually chosen to read this if I’d known what it would be like upfront, I think I’m going to leave this one firmly behind me. 

Content warnings are just from the 10% I managed to get through, there may be more content later in the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Child abuse

Minor: Ableism and Antisemitism

honestlyyours77's review

3.75

Hmm… I actually have say wondering what my opinion of this book was… I think on really enjoyed it lol it’s one of those rare time I actually rounded up as I would put it at a 3.75. 

One issue I had was the transitions are clunky. There was one spot where it looks like a chapter is missing as the jump just doesn’t read well. However, it gets back on track easily.

It’s definitely a ride of twists and turns, a bit unrealistic and repetitive. But I like that it’s not a story that just ties everything up in a nice little package with a cheery bow.

The language is a bit jarring so you have to keep the time period in your mind as it’s just being authentic to the time period. However, I expect it may be triggering to some folks and probably should come with trigger warnings at the beginning of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Outing, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Murder, and Toxic relationship

1kelsey_jw's review

dark 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

3.0

This book felt a little miss marketed- I feel heavy for the use of trigger warnings here

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

ann40's review

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Outing, Child abuse, and Gun violence

nikenacs's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Deadnaming, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, and Alcoholism

breanneporter's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Hmm! This was a weird one that I mostly liked. Rainbow Black follows our protagonist and narrator, Lacy Bond, starting in the early 90s, when she's 13, as her parents are swept up in the satanic panic of the time and accused of (and tried for) performing satanic sex acts on the young children that attended their daycare. From there, things somehow only get worse. 

Obviously it's quite dark, darker than I'd realized it'd be, and while I was quite engaged for the first two parts, I did find my interest waning a bit in the third (and final) part, where I felt like it was dragging on a bit longer than necessary, especially given the narration style, which frequently hinted at what was going to happen (or at least the spirit of what would happen) long before we got there chronilogically. There stopped being surprises/plot twists after part 1, which surprised and disappointed me, as I was hoping for another gasp-worthy moment that never came. It's very gay, with both a cis and a trans lesbian as main characters, which I loved, but it was often just so bleak and often the ways that characters acted and the things they said felt too horrible and ridiculous than could be believed. There were a few different developments that I felt were introduced and then didn't go anywhere interesting (

like the first lawyer disappearing and sending that weird cryptic note and book?? What??

), which was frustrating, and I'm honestly just not sure what to take away from this. Is it a love story? A journey to self-forgiveness? I do feel like the protagonist's inner voice was more self-punishing than I felt she deserved, and I think that's what I was meant to feel, but in that case the ending was more than a bit of a letdown. Anyway, it was an interesting read but wouldn't be my top recommendation; will keep an eye out for more from this author, though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, and Homophobia