Reviews tagging 'Grief'

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

19 reviews

heresyourletter'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

3.25

Fast-paced, compelling and hard to put down.

I wasn’t a fan of the ending though — it felt forced and rushed into a “happily ever after” that wasn’t quite believable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, and Incest

Main character is traumatized throughout the book, after surviving a violent sexual assault

, helping her friend (who murdered the assaulter) dispose of his body, then repeating the action on a trip where her friend claims to have been assaulted and subsequently kills the man. There are detailed descriptions of blood and gore.

She also has severe asthma and occasional panic attacks. Gaslighting and blackmailing are major themes

as the main character’s friend tries to manipulate her sense of reality

One character mentions several times during childhood when she was unfairly spanked for regular childhood behaviour. One character was orphaned at a young age after her parents died in a house fire. Several mentions of religious beliefs that Christians automatically go to heaven once they die, and non-Christians do not. One character is said to have died by suicide many years before the book begins. The main character throws up several times (the descriptions aren’t graphic). Brief mention of a character surviving thyroid cancer. A rabbit is found dead. It is implied that the rabbit was killed by a human. Several scenes at bars, drinking alcohol. Two characters take THC gummies. Brief mention of a character smoking pot in college.

One character was sent to a correctional institution as a child for “severe behavioural and/or mental health issues”. It is revealed that when the antagonist was 12, one of her friends deliberately set her house on fire in an attempt to kill the antagonist’s father, who was sexually abusing the friend. When she learns this, the main character wonders if the father was also abusing his own daughter. One character is pushed off a cliff (but is later recused). One character is pushed in front of a moving car. In an effort to avoid hitting her, the car swerves, knocking the attacker off the cliff (who later dies of her injuries). The car driver also goes off the cliff and is severely injured, but survives.

ellyrium's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

neliadiedenise's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

Freakishly terryfying story. Straight out of life and sooooo normal at first. The book creeped me out as hell but that's exactly why I love it. Sooooo many twists. Wow, just wow. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

blueyogi's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

This book is nuts!! I still haven't fully processed it yet but good lord. The whole dynamic between Emily and Kristen is so well crafted because, like a toxic relationship, the warning signs aren't as red until you look at them under a microscope. I still have questions but I think thats why the book ends this way. It leaves you wondering whether Kristen really did it or whether Emily is just a violent compulsive liar. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

sofiajearally's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

I was pleasantly surprised with this book! I had heard some disappointed reviews but had already bought it so I thought I'd give it a try anyway and I ended up having lots of fun reading it.

First off, it's a real page-turner, with a fast pace and a good balance between the action and the more reflective moments - almost nothing was unnecessary or too long. The fact that the chapters were short helped too. What I think really made it work is the author's ability to maintain suspense and tension all throughout the story, and to engage the reader as to make us feel the doubts of the main character and to doubt the main character herself. There were lots of plot-twists, none of which I saw coming. However, I don't read much thrillers, so they might be foreseeable for people who are more into this genre.

What disappointed me though was the ending: I felt it was rushed and not explained enough, everything too neatly tied up in a bow, almost deus ex machina. A few elements remained unanswered like

what was Nana trying to say to Emily all these times?

. The secondary characters, especially Aaron, lacked depth, flaws and a backstory. As for the writing style, I can't really pronounce myself because I read a translated version but, even though it was efficient, I feel like some stylistic devices were a hit-or-miss.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

laurataylor's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Alcohol

eed8's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

blackcatkai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

CW: child sexual abuse (mentioned, not detailed), gaslighting, blood, violence, murder, sexual assault of an adult (on page), toxic friendship, trauma, mental illness, casual ableism, one moment of a trans-exclusionary reference in relation to periods/menopause

I was having the best time with this and still very much enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. my only issue was the info dumping at the end which brought up extra content that really didn't feel necessary to tack on just in the final chapters. otherwise, fun time!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Pedophilia, and Transphobia