Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg

4 reviews

sashabaker177's review

dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

In many ways a very atypical book, written from the perspective of a fairly naïve and unambitious character. The prose style is very judicious, almost cold, which I really liked, and I enjoyed hearing the perspective of a female main character who appeared about as far from an author self-insert as you can get. Her passivity is frustrating at times and tragic at others. We know at the beginning that she shoots her husband, so the book asks us to look at what led her to that. The resulting text is a dark portrait of marriage in which a woman's job is endure until she can endure no longer. The final lines were evocative, and while I initially found them unsatisfying, I have come to appreciate the author's decision to choose a fate for the main character that calls into question her purpose in her husband's absence.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Child death, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Suicide

drummond's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Murder

issyt's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.0

I found it a really intriguing book but because we are told what was going to happen at the end at the start I found the ending to be quite anticlimactic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

karolinary's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Emotional abuse