Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen

15 reviews

dev921's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abortion, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, Stalking, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

taliatalksbooks's review

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.5

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen was painfully slow for the first 100 pages or so, but after the end of part one, it was oh so worth the build up. I LOVED the little twist at the end of part one, and though some moments got a bit bogged down in information sharing, the book started flying after that. I think this book plays with the idea of “the other woman” and revenge in a really reflective way, ultimately leading to an epilogue that left me shocked. While it didn’t get the coveted audible gasp, it definitely got a little squeal of excitement. The pieces of this story come together perfectly, if you’re patient enough to let them unfold. This book really points to the strength of survivors, and how survivors need to support others, which I really admire and didn’t expect from the title. I would definitely recommend this book, but you have to stick it out for the first part of the book. I promise, it’s worth it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Addiction, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, and Abortion

mags88's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.75

Twist and turns!
Loved how it came together! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, Suicide, Addiction, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Abortion, Car accident, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage, Drug use, and Drug abuse

allykhat328's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

I finally found a thriller that I loved! This is the first thriller where I am intrigued but not anxious by the plot or scenarios. It is also the first time I have enjoyed the plots and not found them cringey or lazy writing. 
 
Although there are some really dark topics in it like DV, suicide, mental illness and emotional abuse to name a few. I still enjoyed it and normally those aspects would be quite triggering for me. 

I actually really enjoyed the characters even though I hated some of them they were still enjoyable. 
I also found it quite confusing at times but I felt like that was the aim and that it really added to the story.

I will 100% pick up more by these 2 authors

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Grief, Infidelity, and Infertility

pookiee's review against another edition

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

3.5

this has one of the better portayals of

Spoiler

domestic abuse

in the thriller genre. some parts are more exaggerated than is typical, but I was impressed by the nuances

Spoiler

”he liked to keep her safe, but also to keep her afraid so she’d rely on him” realization and the not-obvious lovebombing and gaslighting

. the fact that it was pretty grounded in reality made me that much more affected and invested in the story. (although there is an unsuccessful attempt to humanize this character that feels out of place since they’re villainized the entire book & undeserving.)

I guessed a big twist from the beginning, but I still think it was a great one—I’m just very skeptical and thriller-brained. plus this book doesn’t depend on its twists, it’s plot stands on its own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Stalking

Moderate: Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Infertility, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Blood

Details of the domestic abuse:

Spoiler

hit in the face, kicked in the ribs, strangled, her hair pulled, collapses, pushed down the stairs

jkarki's review

dark sad 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

3.5

The twists in the book weren't exactly unpredictable... there were a couple I didnt see coming. The plot was interesting, the way it intertwined, but I felt like the story could have focused more on fleshing out the side characters than what type of wines they drank. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Infidelity, Death, Car accident, Blood, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Classism, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infertility, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Drug use, Ableism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Alcohol, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Car accident, Vomit, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

This was an enjoyable read, and I think I would try these authors again. They definitely did a great job bringing their voices together. I do like a "dark past" story, but sometimes authors can refer to it too often, which makes the reader feel like screaming "oh my GOSH JUST TELL ME ALREADY," which I felt a teensy bit here. Overall, I was surprised multiple times throughout the book, which is great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Misogyny, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Bullying, and Stalking

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Classism, and Fatphobia

savagesav25's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

the pacing of this was so weird but i really loved the twists and turns. definitely one of my fave unreliable narrator books but it was just so slow at some points. did a great job of tying up loose ends though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Gaslighting

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Classism, and Domestic abuse

cbressler80's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

Very similar story to others I’ve read with it’s own flair (think the last Mrs Parrish, the housemaid).  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Stalking, Infertility, Death, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexism