Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed

13 reviews

chuckstafer's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

The premise of this novel sounded very interesting (cult living on an island after they ran away from some apocalypse. Girl sees something she shouldn't which starts a chain reaction of revolt and rebellion to reveal what really happened and why the cult started fresh on the island), but ultimately the story just fell flat for me. 

The plot was nothing original, even though it did flash some new ideas every once in a while. I think this novel was more of an exploration of the trauma that adults can inflict on their children, both intended and unintended, and how these same children will fight back eventually. The continued implied instances of rape, incest, abuse, and misogyny did have me shocked/appalled a few times, but ultimately those incidents were not enough to completely save this story for me. 

This was not a bad story or anything, it just did not hook me as I was hoping it would and did not feel original enough to really stand out either. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

billcbentley's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexism, and Sexual assault

potsnpots's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ifoundcallie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

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

lizzicyrus's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

eed8's review against another edition

dark tense 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: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault