Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

91 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I saw the movie years ago and remember it differently than the book. So some of the content was surprising to me. I’m undecided on how I feel about these differences.i think I liked the movie better than the book because the movie was more dramatic and had actual resolution. The book is satisfying in a different way, and in some ways, more realistic in that when people die, the rest of us still need to find a way to keep living.

I thought the writing was strong, but I’m conflicted on the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

annadrinksmilk's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

tamzy6's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars. It's a beautiful story and I really liked the concept of the Inbetween. The story is filled with broken people but they didn't feel like caricatures. Each one of them had distinct and rich personalities. It was really bittersweet seeing them grow up and experience the things that Susie will never be able to do in human form.

UNTIL... The ending.

What the fuck was that about? I really disliked how Sebold just HAD to give Susie that 'perfect' ending in human form, where Susie kind of possessed Ruth's body and then had sex with Ray? I'm all for fantasy and magical realism, we are reading about a ghost's thoughts after all, but romanticising this possession felt vulgar and weird. This could have been a 4 star read but meh, it felt weird after that.

Also, how did this book get published without a copyeditor because I found there were lots of weird phrases and spelling mistakes, e.g. using "reverted" instead of "riveted", and I had to re-read it to make sure I wasn't imagining things. You know, basic writing stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Murder

liml's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

gordosaurusrex's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

A beautiful, heartfelt book. A mix of murder mystery and relationship drama. The characters are super well written with flaws and some real development that makes them feel like real people, and the descriptions of where Susie spends the book are excellent. Emotional and intriguing.

the section where Susie enters Ruth's body towards the end and makes love to Ray was a bit weird, and although I'm sure Ruth was alright with this arrangement it didn't stop me feeling a little icky as Susie used Ruth's body for her own wants, and she is technically still a little girl. This is the reason I didn't award 5 stars, but didn't take away from how impactful I felt the books was

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Gore

nehalism's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence

agosto111's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I love this book so much!! WARNING RAPE AND A LOT OF REALLY TRAUMATIZING THINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

This is an amazing book but please be careful this book is really triggering and sad so read with caution

scarlett_f's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Full of triggers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy

May be triggers for some: rape, sexual assault, murder.

sammispaniol's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

 I was really excited to read this book but I couldn’t yawn harder. The first two chapters were on your toes and then after that, I was fully seated the rest of the book. Falling asleep thinking about it. Whoever wrote the review that this will be “a classic in vein of To Kill a Mockingbird,” what kind of drugs were you on? Cause no. I gave it two stars instead of one just because I like the idea of what the book COULD HAVE BEEN but it definitely wasn’t it. So glad to have it over with. Took way too long for me cause I was dreading picking it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

sillydylly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

This book is intense, graphic and hard to read. With that being said, it is very well written and interesting. The character development is heart aching and raw and sad. Good read but its a hard one for real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Murder