Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

36 reviews

renwah's review against another edition

emotional funny relaxing 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

4.5

I really really loved this book and its incredibly bonkers premise.  It's another one of those books where I would really recommend the audiobook--I see other reviews that found reading Leon's parts hard to get through because of how he writes (which, while probably charming on a post it note, might be hard to get through pages of), and I found listening to his cramped sentences kind of charming.  Also, love a book that is way too obsessed with the Online Fiber Arts Community, lmao. 

One small thing that this book (really, the cover) showed me is that people in Britain apparently liked Me Before You????? insane.  Honestly kind of shocked me since I thought that the darker themes in this book were handled very well, so the comparison seems extremely odd.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

tayking's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Stalking

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Confinement and Sexual assault

nectarine19's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cancer

halloweenrose's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

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

3.0

lovely, easy book to read. by no means a masterpiece but it was a silly premise and a fun book with also a good amount of serious stuff (incarceration, past abuse). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

booksandharps's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-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: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault

alannah_m's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

This book, for the first time in months, had me staying up late just so I could fly through to the end. I was very worried when it was compared to Jojo Moyes (if you know how her books normally go, you’ll get it), but it was as heartwarming as I could have hoped. First 5* of the year thoroughly deserved just for how it made me feel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Violence

infinitegoldenfloors's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

queenofthelibrary's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

Delightful. Not a word I would typically use, but. The characters are sweet, quirky, and likeable; the plot is very much the same. It's a straightforward contemporary romance so the end game (and plot) is fairly obvious but that didn't spoil the read for me. Explores important themes re: gaslighting but seems a bit romanticized imo, given she seems to transition into a healthy relationship without much baggage (this is even pointed out in the book).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

tw wrongful imprisonment

fayereadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I started reading again for the first time since childhood in April 2019, so to mark my 2-year-readiversay I decided to reread the Flatshare, one of my most favourite books from when I started to read again. I found that I had forgotten quite a lot of things that happened it in so it almost didn't feel like a reread

I adore this book so much!!! I love the book itself but I also loved it because it was almost sentimental to me, being one of the first books that I loved once restarted my reading journey.

This book included more depth than a typical contemporary book. It deals with some particularly dark topics but I feel as though it handles them really well. Especially the storyline of Justin, Tiffy's toxic and emotionally ex- I loved seeing Tiffy's development from being almost dependant on Justin and thinking his toxic behaviours were okqy to reaching out for help and knowing her own worth and strength. This is such an important thing for people to read about.

I loved so many characters, particularly Tiffy, Leon and Richie. Both and Tiffy and Leon have their own personalities and have differences too, but I feel like they have the same souls, like who they truly are inside and what makes them them just makes them the perfect match for each other

 Normally in my reviews I tend to include  favourite moments and quotes from the book but I used up an entire pack of sticky note tabs marking my favourite moments, quotes and anything else I wanted to remember, there are just so many special moments in this book!

Beth O'Leary is a wonderful author, the way she crafts stories is just perfect. I enjoyed having the two different perspectives, of Tiffy and Leon. 

To conclude, this is one of my favourite books and I would totally whole-heartedly recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness

hospital, leukaemia, wrongly imprisoned

memoriast's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Terminal illness and Medical content

Graphic emotional abuse & toxic relationship (not in the main relationship):

Tiffy's ex is/was emotionally abusive towards her, and she is coming to terms with that. Because of this, she recalls incidents of her ex's abusive behaviour and discusses them with her friends. She goes into detail about her ex's abuse and how those incidents made her feel. I am an emotional abuse survivor, and I did find it difficult to read those sections, but I felt that they were handled very well. It was cathartic for me because her friends and Leon were extremely supportive and validating and helped her understand the abuse she went through. I wasn't triggered, but your mileage may vary. Leon's mother is also a survivor of emotional abuse. He has some complicated feelings about that, but it also means he is very supportive of Tiffy.

Graphic stalking (not in the main relationship):

Tiffy's ex stalks her throughout the book. This is a major plot point. Her friends see the red flags before she does and they try and keep her safe.

Moderate sexual assault (not in the main relationship):

Tiffy has some flashbacks to not-entirely-consensual sex with her ex. She doesn't describe it as sexual assault (if I remember correctly), but the experiences were traumatic and she is sometimes triggered when she is being physically intimate with Leon. I don't think the sexual assaults are described in detail.

Minor medical content & terminal illness:

Leon works in palliative care, and one of his favourite patients has a terminal illness. At one point, she has a possibly fatal health scare, but she recovers and gets well enough to be discharged.