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annifuchs's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Child death
kelsiemargareta's review against another edition
I couldn’t get past the first graphic description of CSA (and have since learned that continues throughout the book) and could already tell I was going to hate all the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
itsdeenlee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
this was a love story hidden beneath copious amounts of trauma. i liked it, but i felt like the trauma was only there and didn't necessarily move the plot forward at times or contribute significantly to the character development. i liked the way it was written too - it's blunt and direct kind of in opposition to the love story aspect of the novel
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
zarrazine's review against another edition
challenging
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
baycyd's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Predictable, written to be mini series. Author was creative director for HBO.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Finished, but not sure why.stephanieb0922's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse
velmad's review against another edition
4.5
I really liked this book.
Very surprisingly , the main characters experiences with family mirror a lot of mine, right from the grandmother to the mother .
The generational trauma resolved itself slightly with every generation but it was still very apparent that this is a very troubled family line.
The author , still have a pass more than I think she should have to Elle's mother. She wasn’t a good mother . She was neglectful and selfish and narcissistic. She allowed her men to abuse her daughters emotionally and put her daughters in harms way. It still sounded a bit like her mom was a wonderful person but maybe , true to my life , that next generation will come out even cleaner than Elle and Anna.
I can see how she ended up having an affair. I don’t like it but I see how it happened .
Most definitely this was a difficult read to get through but it was very well wrote.
The only marks I took off were because I often couldn’t keep track of the characters and jumping back and forth was done differently than I had ever read before.
Very surprisingly , the main characters experiences with family mirror a lot of mine, right from the grandmother to the mother .
The author , still have a pass more than I think she should have to Elle's mother. She wasn’t a good mother . She was neglectful and selfish and narcissistic. She allowed her men to abuse her daughters emotionally and put her daughters in harms way. It still sounded a bit like her mom was a wonderful person but maybe , true to my life , that next generation will come out even cleaner than Elle and Anna.
I can see how she ended up having an affair. I don’t like it but I see how it happened .
Most definitely this was a difficult read to get through but it was very well wrote.
The only marks I took off were because I often couldn’t keep track of the characters and jumping back and forth was done differently than I had ever read before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
sazzzberry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Stalking, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage
alisha247's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
this is one very difficult book to review for a few reasons.
the first thing i really noticed about this novel was its writing. the author wrote some really beautiful sentences, especially those focusing on nature imagery, however there were also plenty of sentences that were either prose overkill or simply did not make sense. this, coupled with the incessant back and forth timelines, sometimes spanning years, did not help me follow these characters’ journeys.
secondly, the triggering content. there was unnecessary amounts of graphic sexual abuse and emotional neglect of children. i understand the message the novel was trying to portray with this - how trauma can tremendously shape lives, but the imagery was not needed.
furthermore, none of the characters were very likeable. they were very much one-dimensional to me. this made it difficult to empathise with any of their choices. for some characters, their distastefulness worked well in the story e.g. elle’s parents, her stepparents etc. but for others, readers almost needed to be won over for the story to excel e.g. i certainly felt that peter was bland and his only character traits were being english and vulgar; jonas was presented as a total sweetheart as a child but as an adult, there was no charisma.
and then the ending. i don’t usually mind ambiguous endings, but this left too many loose ends in its wake!
the first thing i really noticed about this novel was its writing. the author wrote some really beautiful sentences, especially those focusing on nature imagery, however there were also plenty of sentences that were either prose overkill or simply did not make sense. this, coupled with the incessant back and forth timelines, sometimes spanning years, did not help me follow these characters’ journeys.
secondly, the triggering content. there was unnecessary amounts of graphic sexual abuse and emotional neglect of children. i understand the message the novel was trying to portray with this - how trauma can tremendously shape lives, but the imagery was not needed.
furthermore, none of the characters were very likeable. they were very much one-dimensional to me. this made it difficult to empathise with any of their choices. for some characters, their distastefulness worked well in the story e.g. elle’s parents, her stepparents etc. but for others, readers almost needed to be won over for the story to excel e.g. i certainly felt that peter was bland and his only character traits were being english and vulgar; jonas was presented as a total sweetheart as a child but as an adult, there was no charisma.
and then the ending. i don’t usually mind ambiguous endings, but this left too many loose ends in its wake!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
mjvanhusen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault