Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

206 reviews

corporatelobotomy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

this was just... sad. that's all i can say. so, so incredibly sad. it's true when they say all children deserve parents, but not all parents deserve children.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

reversemedusa's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse and Incest

flounder416's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, and Abandonment

mad_dog_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

So this was one of the few books in my childhood I was actually told not to read bc of the content, and I didn't know where to get it so I didn't. So I do feel the need to defend it on those grounds, there are also a lot of negative reviews calling it gross and such. And compared to something like Lapvona it is well put together, Lapvona is just an author putting every bad thing she can think of into a book so by the third incest/cannibalism/ whatever it's just boring and tacky. Here the incest and rape are a result of the abuse the MCs face, which is the result of histories of abuse from the family. In that regards I feel like it actually wants to explore what the themes at the same time as it wants to shock you.
The biggest flaw is that it's not well written, it reads like someone's first attempt at writing/first novel, it is clunky and just a bit meh. I wanted more given the gothic genre. Cathy is also reading a book once and says she likes to pause over pretty phrases, same, but I only did that once or twice. It also has pacing issues.
But I can see the appeal as a gothic fiction lover and think if kids/teens want to read this one they should be able to. It picks up near the end and becomes more thriller like

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Incest, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

alex_bousquet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

3.5

Def a dark story and at that time authors didn't put trigger warnings, so make sure you fully check what may be in the book first. Some of the verbatim made it sound older than it actually was 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

thehaylflayl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Vomit

suklaa's review against another edition

dark 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? N/A

3.75

Fucking disturbing and I generally love dark themes but this one if truly the peak darkness. It's a very interesting read and it's definitely gonna haunt you after you're done reading. I can't believe y'all read this when you were kids!!!???? I'm deeply disturbed as an adult, I can't even imagine how this would've affected me when I was a kid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

cordee's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

Read this when I was 12; loved it. Read it again as an adult and holy f*%# is it ever disturbing. Definitely gothic, not really horror, just disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death and Child death

coco78337's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment