Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville

5 reviews

keenanmaree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia

sorrel29's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

abookwormwithwine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville is an incredibly hard book for me to review, and I want you to think about that when you look at my rating and what I say about it. I think it will blow a lot of readers away to the point of giving it a higher rating than I did, so if you think it sounds good or you are already a fan of Neville, then you should probably read it. For me, having never read this author before and not remembering what the book was about, it came as quite a shock. I don't think I was fully in the mood for it when I started, but by the time I got about halfway, I was definitely feeling it. It is an incredibly dark and sinister read that deals with different types of violence and abuse mixed in with a supernatural quality. I think the beginning will pull a lot of people in, and it's definitely something that grabbed me right away.

There were quite a few parts of The House of Ashes that broke my heart, and this is definitely a mystery wrapped up in an emotional read. The story is told from a handful of different viewpoints, with the main ones being Mary and Sara. We get a nice mixture of both past and present, and I really liked the way both Mary and Sara's stories ended up tying together. I was also a big fan of the audiobook which is narrated by Caroline Lennon. I can't even begin to imagine the difficulties that go into reading a book like this, and Lennon handled it beautifully. I could feel all of the emotions and that made this even more of a heavy read. Neville's writing was incredibly impressive, and I will definitely be reading everything else he writes.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

raireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

esha_juni's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism