Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

40 reviews

sammiesreadathon's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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j_c_a's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75


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natgoe's review

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dark emotional reflective 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

4.25


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jasminealizae's review against another edition

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

1.0

Disappointing, but on par for this author. The amount of unnecessary trauma/drama thrown into this story left a bad taste in my mouth towards all Tiffany D. Jackson books. 

How much can I witness one character be dragged through before I can no longer suspend disbelief? 

Seems like she just enjoys torturing her characters. 

The amount of colorism, racism, fat shaming, ableism, false 'mental health' representation, abuse, mentions of rape and molestation, inappropriate sexual relationships, stereotypes, and just downright torture for shock value that took place in this book - disgusting.

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onarosebeam's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

⚠️ Trigger warnings: child death, child abuse, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, police brutality, abuse of authority

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bowlingforboots's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25


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tmcphetridge4's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

(Starting off by saying this is NOT my chosen genre, I am being asked to read this book for a course I am helping to teach.)
Nope. This book 100% is not for me. Pretty much from the jump I was disturbed by the content of the book and I did not like how this one was written. I can see how people view it as a stunning debut, but because it is not the type of genre that I like to read, it was a slog to get through. Utterly violent, abusive, abhorrent behavior from just about every party involved. There were multiple times that I had to turn down the volume because I could not stand the content I was listening to. Especially having read Grown first, I thought that the plot twist at the end was cheap. Again, makes you rethink the whole book, which isn't the worst tactic but I don't think it was necessary. 
This all being said, I think it opens an interesting conversations on cycles of abuse/trauma and generational trauma. 

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

Changed my rating and review entirely bc sitting on the ending, even though it wasn't entirely to my liking bc I didn't think the book was gonna have it, is that what makes TDJ's writing so entrancing to me is that it always has a tantalizing social/psychological horror undertone and how she weaves one sentence after another to make that slowly settle on your head is so masterful. For some reason, I was so into how I was spoiled the plot twist and how I was wanting a different outcome for Mary, that my initial reaction was to find the ending erratic as hell that I wasn’t appreciating the horror aspect of it. When viewed that way, the ending is unsettling and gloomy and compliments the story instead of cheapening it, though I'm still not entirely convinced about it and Marisol vs Mary spat left me a weird aftertaste.

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emhicks72's review

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

3.5


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islesbiyana's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

Hard to celebrate the day you were born when everybody seems to wish you were never born at all. Especially after you come into this world and fuck it all up.



rating: 3.5 stars
trigger/content warnings: death of infant, bullying, r/s between a minor & a young adult, severe bullying, child abuse, gaslighting, racism, lesbophobia, ableism, attempted child SA, references to rape, fatphobia



while i usually do enjoy following stories from an unreliable perspective—and that aspect sure added to intrigue of this book—i still have no idea what to feel about that ending. i understand what jackson's intent was, but there's a part of me that feels like there was there missing things that could've helped tie in together with the final parts while still maintaining the dubious & unpredictable narrative. idk. still, i can def say that jackson succeeded in provoking a certain reaction through that ending.

such a heavy and gritty story about a young girl enduring an abundance of fucked up but infuriatingly real scenarios, it all makes your stomach churn. there were parts that remind you that this was her debut, but it's such an immersive and compelling debut nonetheless.



“What does it mean when you love and hate someone at the same time?” I ask.

He laughs. “It means they family.”

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