Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

15 reviews

bookshelfhannah's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

richardw2024's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.5

An interesting look at the victims of Jack the Ripper. This is not true crime, there is nothing at all about the killings but this focuses on the lives of the women. It is an interesting insight into what life was like in Victorian London and the attention to detail is superb. It is, however, slow paced and quite heavy going 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

mahmabaer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

I enjoyed it for the most part and the author's basic theory

that all the women were not prostitutes

, does give one something to consider.  I do wish she hadn't been so heavyhanded in her attempt to find no blame towards the women themselves, as it makes it come across as if she is less interested in telling the stories of the five victims and more interested in proving her point.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

thinkingcatss's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

jacs63's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This is a stunning book for so many reasons. 
It gives a face, a name and a voice, to the 5 victims of JtR. 
We so often only hear about the perpetrator, and not the victims. 
The book discusses the fact that thru the falsehood and misinformation spread by the Metropolitan Police and journalists at the time, it was convenient for us all to think that JtR only killed prostitutes. 
Only 2 of the 5 were actually known to be sex workers. 
There is no evidence that the other 3 were sex workers at all, but I for one believed the misinformation that was spread. 
One thing that all 5 women shared was that they are all alcoholics. 
I wonder why?? 
Maybe because cheap alcohol was the only thing that dulled the pain, if only for a while, of the poverty; the hunger; the homelessness; the early death of family members, including their own spouses or their own babies/ children; the death sentence that they were given if their spouse died and left them, and their children, destitute; their treatment as a woman with no legal rights; the living hell that was the 'Workhouse'; the lack of education for woman; the disease; the filth and vermin; the lack of medicines; the lack of clean water and sanitation; the violence; the lack of hope, respect and dignity etc etc etc. 
Basically the treatment of women/girls in the 1800's. 

It's full of interesting and informative historical facts about what life, and death, was like, for women in particular, in the Victorian 1800's. 

It's sad and horrific and devastating. It's a book that won't leave me for a while, I don't think. 
Probably not a book to read if you are depressed or feeling melancholic.

We will never know who JtR was. 
But we can know who his victims were. 
These women were daughters; sisters; wives; lovers; mothers; friends. 
May they never be forgotten. 
RIP and love, Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Kate and Mary Jane.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

I really appreciate how intensively this was researched, and I think it's a really important idea. I could definitely see revisiting this and reading it again in small pieces. It tells such an interesting story about just women in general during this time period in England, and I think it's fascinating how so many ideas that were standard then are still hanging on today.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death and Blood

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

It is good to see the victims of Jack the Ripper as human beings instead of faceless statistics to be gawked at. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Racism, and Xenophobia

There is a lot of talk about the abuse within the workhouses and dissolving of familial dynamics.

walkie_check's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

rach59r's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Violence, and Classism