Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Girls by Emma Cline

62 reviews

holdonangela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Abrupt ending that was actually a relief..literally. Felt myself kind of anxious the whole time reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

whoisrois's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Took a good third of the book to get invested but I liked it in the end. very well written but I expected it to be more…. idk I just expected more I guess

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying and Drug use

lacanadienneinreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

2.0

I'm interested in history, true crime, and literary fiction with interiority as a focus, so I wanted to like this book. In theory, an exploration of the trauma and complexity of a girl lured by her own reckless youth, naivety, into a dangerous cult is an interesting read. But I just didn't care for The Girls. Evie is a petulant child, turned traumatized adult in arrested development. The wordy and overly descriptive prose felt incongruous with the other snipits of voice of the protagonist/narrator. Although the dynamic of childhood friends lost through petty adolescence and the "do I want her or her want to be with her" questions of feminine homoerotic love were compelling, I they were not enough to capture me. Cline's description of teenage angst and rebellion did not resonate with me in what felt like the intended way. The book seemed to offer that the mundane indignities and frustrations of life could lead us, like they did Evie, astray. 
There are arguments to be made for the book's merits. But I did not enjoy myself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Murder

delaneybarry's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

einna's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

*jamie lee curtis voice* trauma 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

kaitidid's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Excrement

claire_lamb's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence and Violence

danibee's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

Beautifully written and very engaging story. I would have rated it higher except it had significant graphic descriptions of underage sexual assault that was key to the story. So fair warning there.

The ending felt very hopeless and that was a disappointment. I’m not sure if I liked it, not because it wasn’t happy, but because the message of the book wasn’t very clear.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

marhuitre's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The writing is good but I wasn’t really invested in the story and I didn’t like the characters, which is the point but it didn’t work for me 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

mickraine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: War