Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed

20 reviews

jessie_deee's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

Dark and disturbing dystopian

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Rape

twistykris's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I truly struggle to review this book. There are a lot of mixed feelings. It feels wrong to rate a book with such disturbing content in it highly.

Some might call the writing "flowery," but I found it to be beautiful and engrossing. The descriptions of the children running freely during the summers left me feeling nostalgic and entranced. The descriptions of the horrors made me sick to my stomach.

I appreciate that all of the perspectives are told from 4 girls, ranging from 13-17. This is their story, their journey, their sorrows and trauma, their love and triumphs.

There are very disturbing references to normalized, societal incest in this book. I struggled reading certain sections depicting overt abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual) of girls, young teens, and women. When reading disturbing content like this, I often wonder how the author could possibly get such imagery, and I wonder if it's for "shock value" more than anything. But after reading about Jennie's experience working with traumatized and sexually abused children, it made me understand that this was not "shock value" content, but a deep understanding. Jennie is knowledgeable of what she is portraying and does it well.

An uncomfortable read that will stick with me for a long time. Rating may be updated in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming and Bullying

This book has references to child abuse and incest between fathers and daughters. While it isn't overly graphic and a lot of the abuse is implied, it is an integral part of the story and can be very difficult to read. The author, Jennie Melamed, "is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who specializes in working with traumatized children. During her doctoral work at the University of Washington, she investigated anthropological, biological, and cultural aspects of child sexual abuse."

whatvictoriaread's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

lovefromhannah'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

rebyreadsandwrites's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism

mikayyyla's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

Disturbing and uncomfortable and tragic in the best way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Pregnancy

jewelia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

this book is really well written with an interesting premise but its fuckin bleak yall, definitely have a browse of the content warnings before you read this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

booknerdnative's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Incest, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, and Medical trauma

morganperks'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Murder, and Gaslighting

stormwise's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

This novel is not for the faint of heart, addressing themes of rape culture, child abuse and trauma in a dystopian setting. 

The story is told from the perspectives of the daughters, girls living in a world where the boundary between childhood and womanhood is sharply delineated by the onset of puberty.

As the plot unfolds, glimpses of the true nature of their community are revealed and it becomes evident to the reader that rather than a refuge from the supposed wastelands, the island is instead home to a cult that indoctrinates its members from childhood, using tradition as an excuse for abuse.

A deeply unsettling novel that warns against blindly following rules and customs without examining the harm they cause. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Grief, and Death of parent