Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa

16 reviews

cath_reads_books's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This was a wild ride! I think it’s my favorite of Amanda Jayatissa’s so far. 

The story follows Paloma, a Sri Lankan orphan, who is adopted by the Evans couple and moved to the United States. There’s clearly something in Paloma’s past that haunts her; she has a terrible relationship with her adoptive parents, she drinks on medication that have interactions with alcohol, and she doesn’t seem to have any real friends. She also judges every person she comes across extremely harshly, as though she’s the best person on the planet, when in reality she’s an absolute asshole. She’s also extremely manipulative and conniving, and will do anything to keep herself in a good position. I found myself wondering many times if she was legitimately a psychopath. 

The book goes back-and-forth between telling the story of present day Paloma and young Paloma living at the Sri Lankan orphanage.

As I continued to hear more of the experiences about the orphanage, I started to suspect that Paloma wasn’t really Paloma at all, but instead was a close childhood friend posing as her to get their shot at a better life. By the end of the book I found out that this was absolutely the case. 

What I didn’t expect was that the real Paloma was still alive and had planned on elaborate revenge scheme to try to take her place back from the pretender. The REAL Paloma was even more insane than the pretend one too, and layered on her own schemes to make the pretend Paloma look unhinged. The last few chapters of this book were beyond intense, and I had no idea which Paloma I was actually reading about for a while there. The last chapter had me grinning ear to ear when I figured it out.

4.25 of 5 stars from me! Top-notch writing with an insane cat and mouse game between two psychopaths lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Vomit, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

floating_sky's review

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Sri Lankan backdropped made story interesting. Novel was too long and nothing happened until end. Did not like profanity in story.  Particular story line revelation was too dark for my preference. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Minor: Death of parent

tammyanntchou's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Death, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, Self harm, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Child death, and Sexual content

kashcraft's review

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Death of parent

dfbballinger's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

The plot of this book is compelling and finding out what happened in Sri Lanka that led Paloma to the life she has in California drove my desire to keep reading. That said, Paloma is very, very unlikeable. So detestable that had it not been for an intriguing plot, I probably wouldn’t have finished the book. She treats everyone like garbage and is only concerned about herself. There is no growth or change over the course of the novel. She’s just mean. The twists and turns of the novel do, in some ways, make up for the faults of the protagonist though. All in all, it was a fun read that kept me on my toes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Car accident, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

thedrolldiaries's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Ooo this was a good one! A dark, sinister, Sri Lankan-inspired twist on

Jane Eyre

!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Addiction, and Abandonment

staceyface's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

One of the most satisfying yet internally confusing endings I've ever experienced. I feel wrong for feeling so pleased.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization

halebugs's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Death

delphine_'s review against another edition

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 

Much like in the other book I read from Amanda Jayatissa, it seems like she can't help but ruin a really good book by going too far into the horrifying. I don't mean horror as in spooky, or disturbing existential dread - there's plenty of that in this book and it worked really well and I was entirely into it.

What I mean is this book made me discover I needed some trigger warnings I didn't know I needed. Some things never, never ever, need be this graphic. Or maybe they do if you really want true, unadulterated, experience of things that do happen in real life and that are just as revolting. They, maybe successfully, made me feel ill and violated and absolutely not okay. The way I see it, alluding to them is plenty. Especially as a device to make us understand how horrible someone's situation was.

Much like in You're Invited, it just seems gratuitous and too much.

I'm starting with what will unfortunately stay my main takeaway for this book that I otherwise really liked and that offered a fascinating take on another one of Jayatissa's tricks, but a positive one: the unreliable narrator. We watch Paloma sink helplessly into her vices, unable to stop her as she makes bad decisions, unable to help her as things unravel. Supernatural forces or too much to drink? The characters around her are no less mysterious and you'll find yourself, too, in a haze of distrust for everybody. I really enjoyed the read and the end still had me invested again as Jayatissa arfully kept things ambiguous until she wanted us to know. I loved predicting practically nothing that happened. Only one plot point, and I thought I was so smart for it.

I'm really sad about this one part that truly left a sour, ugly taste in my mind for a book I had no reason not to love. After all, there's a reason I picked up this book after reading another one from the author. But before I pick up another one, I'll dutifully read the trigger warnings and know that when it comes to Jayatissa, graphic means GRAPHIC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Stalking and Murder

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, and Death