Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

85 reviews

maddiet425's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pregnancy

ericadansereau's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book hurt to read, as it is inspired by true events surrounding the abominable Tennessee Children’s Home Society and the wicked Georgia Tann. It gutted me emotionally, but was so well written and ended so beautifully. Alternating between past and present timelines, this book was phenomenal. The author’s note and interview at the end are a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Grief

spaghettireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I know that people don’t read full captions, so I feel like I want to say off the top that I don’t think that I recommend this! It was a book club selection, and while it did provide a good discussion, I don’t think that any of us really loved this.

The sub-genre of historical fiction that generally features women looking away on the cover is not one that I usually reach for. While I did find the writing in this relatively engaging, and I did want to keep reading it to find out what the twist was at the end, I thought that the book had a lot of issues. Perhaps the fact that a real life historical tragedy has been written with the vibe of a mystery is the problem. As one of my friends pointed out, it felt as though just everything bad possible was happening to the characters.

And while I said that I was waiting for the final details to be revealed at the end, a lot of the book felt very predictable. My book club also talked about how the portrayal of people of colour, and mostly Black people in this story was pretty terrible.

So, as I said I wouldn’t recommend this. Thanks as always to my book club friends for a great discussion 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

finding_time_to_read's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

bexdubyah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

jskell911's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Grief

angelaf's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

 I can't get this book out of my head. Admittedly, I was hesitant to read it because of the subject matter and just read it for a book group I attend. I am so glad I read it now. A beautifully written story about an incredibly important topic. I could not put the book down. Trigger warnings: child abuse, child trafficking 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Trafficking

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

morgan_elizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Trafficking

lalalasss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death