Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

10 reviews

fkshg8465's review

challenging dark emotional 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

She’s had better books than this. Main characters were easy to sympathize with, but they were still hard to like. Too many layers of story going on at once, and the whole thing that kicked it off was so disgusting. Unfortunately, that first scene got revisited three more times, and it got worse each time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Vomit, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

chandaferguson's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

2.0

This is my first Karin Slaughter novel, and it was quite the experience. Luckily, I knew enough about this author to do some research before jumping into one of her novels, and this was certainly one that warranted that- sexual assault, a school shooting, a series of graphic deaths, explicit threats, and more trigger warnings. However, despite these warnings, the novel still has a high rating and mostly good reviews. I was curious how an author could depict these moments and still have readers enjoying the book overall.

“The Good Daughter” begins with sisters, Charlie and Samantha, and the story of how their family tragically and horribly fell apart. I was immediately getting “To Kill a Mockingbird” déjà vu from the undercurrent themes, characters, and even plot elements, which carried on throughout the novel. However, this lacked the class and subtlety that made that novel so impactful and successful. Then the book expands with a variety of plot threads that come together in the end with some closure, but also leaving room for an obvious sequel. 

What made this stand apart was the shock value that Slaughter has for writing gripping action and suspense. I’ve never had my heart race like this while reading before, and though oftentimes it was for the horror of the threats in the story, it also had an impact that gave me insight into those who love these dark stories, but for me, the darkness was overwhelming, which made me dislike it overall. I personally love thrillers that allude to the darker elements of the story, but don’t explicitly articulate them, and I think for this one to have *SPOILER ALERT* murder, violence, and rape, and then immediately a school shooting and the murder of a little girl was emotionally formidable without reason. Every time I began settling into the novel, Slaughter would add another disturbing or traumatic moment to layer the suspense with impact, and I’d remember again how this was more difficult than enjoyable to read. It was unnecessarily detailed with gory, vulgar and distressing moments, and for those reasons, I also don’t think this is a book I would recommend or a series I’ll continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

shawnna_reads2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Infidelity, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Rape, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Abortion

chloseencounter's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This novel was my favorite Karin Slaughter book I’ve read so far. After really enjoying Pretty Girls I picked this up and was surprised when I liked it even more. I think this book has just the right amount of twists and turns, I loved all the main characters (even rusty was enjoyable), the sister’s relationship was complex and interesting and they had a great dynamic. I really have nothing to complain about here except that maybe I would’ve liked a little more time with Kelly. We heard a lot about Kelly through the lenses of other people but didn’t often hear her experiences articulated straight from her. I am now rereading this book and I am caught surprised by all the tiny seeds being planted from the very first chapter that I think would almost be impossible to catch before a second read, I can really appreciate the author’s writing style in that way. Some very effective writing techniques where used to make you feel a certain way about characters  before they were even introduced.

Spoiler

Such as choosing not to bring Rusty into the story until much later because he was often described as an absent father who put work first, and in that way he was even absent to the reader for quite awhile. Or that Sam was treated as if she was dead up until her intro to the story a few chapters in, because to Charlie she might as well have been dead.

I will warn that this story can be graphic at times (though it doesn’t hold a candle to Pretty Girls) but I do think the violence served a purpose in explaining why characters acted the way they did in their adult lives and even gave some insight on relationships between the sisters and parents. 

Spoiler

Like Rusty asking Charlie to lie about being assaulted or how Sam told Charlie she was able to see when she couldn’t to comfort Charlie.

I also really enjoyed the banter between Charlie and Sam, sometimes even Rusty. I think this was a super solid read and has made me excited to work my way through more Karin Slaughter books! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Child death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Infertility, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Bullying, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abortion, Cursing, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

autumnwhite's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Abortion, Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Hate crime, Grief, Gun violence, Gore, Excrement, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Stalking

daijahsbookworld's review

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? Yes

4.0

Read for Winterween 2022: book that gives you thrills and chills

I really did enjoy this book because ms. karin knows how to write. there were some parts that were slow and a bit more “boring” which is why it isn’t a full 5 star from me. i also never guess twists and i guessed one of them like halfway through so that hindered my enjoyment a little bit but the other twist had me by the THROAT

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, and Gaslighting

itssandhya's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Cancer, Gore, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Transphobia, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Alcoholism

karotym's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mass/school shootings, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer

amberinbookland's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Misogyny

olivianeedscoffee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very character driven. I wish there had been more about the actual trial.

There is lot of graphic violence.

Slaughter manages to make her sexual assault victims feel real. They are allowed to be strong without being weak,  messy without being beyond hope.  She makes them feel very real. A horrific experience humanized so those of us who are somewhat desensitized to it are reminded just how traumatic sexual assault and other violent acts are. 

I loved the family dynamic in this book. It was flawed and complex and real. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence