Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Animal: A Novel by Lisa Taddeo

21 reviews

citybound13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This was the hardest to read book I’ve ever encountered and I’ve read some very gruesome and scary books. Be kind to yourself while reading this.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicide, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Vomit, Miscarriage, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Dementia, and Death of parent

ktwoolen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

I loved this story but as a mother I was so triggered and disturbed by so much of the dialog and imagery. Truly a heartbreaking read for me. A lot of reviews said it’s about how being in your 30s can make you want to kill- but to me it was about how parent trauma and send you on a spiral of self degradation, and how being treated like you’re disposable by everyone that’s ever come into your life can make you want to kill. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Infertility, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Addiction, Gaslighting, Dementia, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Vomit, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Really hard mother/daughter trauma to get through, along with detailed description of a miscarriage.

rachthecreator's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Murder, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Child death, Miscarriage, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Suicide, and Vomit

lenka_lenka's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

Story of a woman fighting to survive in a man’s word, fighting internalisied misogyny and learning how to connect with other women. 

It doesn’t have much plot, more stream of consciousness as we follow the main character. 

Joan is not a likable character but definitely is the star of her own life. She reminds me of Esther from The Bell Jar or the main character of A Year Of Rest And Relaxation. 
Her complicated and layered past relationship cast a shadow on all other  connections with other people. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Cursing, Sexism, Addiction, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Animal death, Grief, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, and Death

marinalikeaboatyard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

A difficult but incredibly engrossing read. Taddeo brilliantly shows the generational trauma that women experience and the difficulty of breaking that cycle. The characters are incredibly complex and more anti-hero-esque than anything, but you still root for the main character. 

I’ve noticed this trend lately of so many authors using the structure of switching between past and present until it all catches up, and I wasn’t sure I could do it again. I will say, that structure - imho - doesn’t *always* serve the novel well, as it kind of holds up the plot at points in favor of exposition. I think maybe it should just have been better spaced out or cut down a bit. HOWEVER, in the second half, it really accelerates and you absolutely can’t wait to find out what exactly happened and how it’s going to play out. There’s a bit of ambiguity in the end, but you ultimately feel that the cycle has been broken in some way, and that the main character has made peace with past and is ready to begin again. 

Major content trigger warnings - some very challenging passages that some readers may find triggering. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Panic attacks/disorders

n0e11e0000's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Body horror, Ableism, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Child death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Grief, and Addiction

Moderate: Confinement, Alcohol, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit, Cursing, Body shaming, and War

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexism, Infertility, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Abortion, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Vomit, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Confinement and Forced institutionalization

artois's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape and Misogyny

Minor: Addiction

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

Eh. I liked the ending the most but other than that it was mostly boring and hard to keep track of. All the characters were pretty much the same person and I didn’t really feel like I was there (I get that’s it’s like a letter but still). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Abandonment and Ableism

karanextweek's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.25

I hated this book. I hated everything about it. Every single character annoyed the shit out of me. I hated the way it was written, even though my visceral hate from literally page 1 is proof that the writing is good.
Pretty much every type of SA/r*pe is covered in this book. It was a lot. I hated it. Am I mad I read it? Kinda. But I don’t regret it. Maybe I do.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Misogyny, Addiction, Rape, Body horror, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child death, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Death, Pedophilia, and Self harm