Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

9 reviews

britt_coin's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

Had an amazing opening that hooked me immediately, but became long winded and lost pace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

emmalizzz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was such a fun listen to kick off warmer weather! It’s faced paced and once it starts it does not slow down. I love the dual POV and it leads to a really exciting scene towards the end of the book! The plot twist is a tad predictable, but didn’t make it any less enjoyable. The main character, Heather, and her friends remind me of my friends and I growing up in a small town, and while they can all be dumb and frustrating sometimes, they’re easy to love. The creep factor was definitely upped with the addition of the mining tunnels connecting all of the houses and there are some really disturbing visuals, which of course is what I’m here for. Overall an easy, quick, enticing story that gives you all of the spooky summer small town feels!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder

jordan_uhden's review against another edition

dark lighthearted 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Violence

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Tragic. Beautiful. Beautifully tragic. There is no other way to describe this book. Heather has you rooting for her from day one as you watch her world change around her. She’s strong, brave, and terrified but willing to stand up for those she loves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence

omnilegentoberski's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

What. A. Book. This one is going to stick with me for a long while. It made me angry; it made me sad; it made me fist pump in support. This is one of those books you can’t shut up about and just have to talk to people about. It’s based on some women who went missing during a time in St Cloud when there were several serial killers on the lose who murders were never solved. It’s a statement on sexualizing young women and the harm in keeping quiet about the wrongs in your community. It’s a story about growing up and realizing that the monsters in your life are much nearer and insidious than you realized. And it’s about fighting for those girls who no one seems to care about enough to go looking for. I will never be able to reread this book because I am an emotional mess now, but it was so so so well done. While the content is definitely triggering, the author is not graphic in the content (something I truly appreciated) giving you just enough information that you were aware of what had happened while leaving it vague enough that it was not trauma porn. Highly recommend this one!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse

erinhanso's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

Very, very dark, but the story had me hooked and I loved the Minnesota references. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Rape, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, and Stalking

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug use

Minor: Abandonment

raechalws's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Murder, Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Drug use, Chronic illness, Bullying, and Misogyny

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I'm so happy that this was the book I started the new year with.

Jess Lourey writes with an anger that demands answers. Why are men allowed to act with violence in response to the same injuries that women are expected to swallow and smile through? Why are the hopes, futures, and very lives of girls an acceptable loss in the face of men's desires?

"Does that sound like the kind of guy who would abduct a girl?"

If your answer is no, what would it take to change it to a yes?

I didn't grow up in the 70s, when this book is set, but the echoes of a midwest girlhood resound through the decades. Parties you know you shouldn't go to. Friends pressured and stifled simultaneously, growing up way too fast. Men and boys who think you owe them something. This is an absolute powerhouse of fiction.

If I had one genuine criticism of this story, it would be that everything wraps up a little too cleanly. However, given what Lourey has been through in her life -and what she puts the reader through in her book- maybe that's a catharsis we both deserve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pedophilia

Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

Here I'll try to expand on cases where the content is explicit, but does not take up that much page space. With regards to pedophilia:

Spoiler

Adult men are revealed to be coercing underage girls into sexual contact. The youngest girl we see on-page is 16, but there's evidence of girls potentially as young as 12 being in the same situation.

With regards to police brutality:

Spoiler

The top cop in the area is essentially trafficking girls. He's found to be using the authority of the badge to trade sexual favors for expunging juvenile offenses. While this isn't "violent" in the sense of a physical attack, it's certainly sexual brutalization.

hollyslibraryholds's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Drug use, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexism, Rape, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, and Mental illness