Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

123 reviews

adiloretto's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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

"This is what I never knew about loss—it’s also about what you gain. You carry a weight that you never had before. It’s never behind you. It’s alongside you."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness and Drug use

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

4.75

I loved this story. Heart-wrenching, funny, poignant, and desperately sad. I cried multiple times and thoroughly highlighted passages. The characters felt so textured and the emotions they felt and reactions they had seemed realistic and meaningful. I loved all the scenes with the core friend group—their friendship felt so real and their dynamic so lived-in. I definitely want to read more from this author. 

Read if you like emotional, funny, poignant stories about love and friendship and growing up in adulthood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

capmorrow's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Dementia, and Grief

marycage's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Infidelity

alex_lk's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

This is a beautiful story about grief and friendship. I highly recommend if you are looking for not your typical rom com. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting

gabrielastbr's review

emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

anneroza's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Abandonment

suerte_encantada's review

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

sgrifgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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

I almost put this book down 8 chapters in because it was marketed so badly and the plot twist completely took me by surprise, and not in a good way. I’m glad I kept reading, because it ended up being a good book with lots of insight into all kinds of relationships: romantic, familial, friendships, and even with oneself. However, there are definitely things I would say people should know going in. 

In the back-of-the-book description, it mentions “in an instant, their lives are changed forever.” This is a sudden, tragic, and traumatic death of a loved one, and main character. A good portion of the book is spent describing, in vivid detail, the grief experienced by the narrator. The grief is very realistic and well written, and under different circumstances I probably would have appreciated the perspective. But I was expecting a fun, breezy romance, and this is quite serious content matter. As someone who recently experienced a similar unexpected loss, it was very hard for me to get through and I would have appreciated more of a warning. In my opinion, the book should have been marketed differently, or at the very least mentioned that grief is a main theme.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

abiigrl's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting