Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Before the Devil Breaks You, by Libba Bray

20 reviews

pagesandtales's review

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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Antisemitism

heather_freshparchment's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Classism, Racial slurs, Death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: War, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicide attempt

allisonsmith120's review

dark emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Antisemitism, Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Minor: Medical trauma

overbooked207's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense

• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Violence

grexcarolinii's review

slow-paced

0.5

This probably would have been closer to a 2.5
but I had to take away 1 star for the incredibly triggering r*** scene written in second person - you know, just to add to the triggering effects (note: none of the rest of the book was written in 2nd person, nor has any of the previous novels. I can only assume the author did this to add to the disgust of the scene, so at best is exploitative and gross, at worst it's downright malicious). 

A second star taken away for just the casual mention of having a side characters love interest in Confederate costuming. For a book/series that likes to touch and try to wrestle with the problems of 1920s America - this felt so gross and tone death. How in the same book can you have the slaves of ghosts, references to the Jim Crows laws, and then just have a guy show up in Confederate uniform like it's just... fine?
No. Absolutely not. 

Add to this a host of kinda unlikeable characters, not a whole lot of plot for a 546 page book
And far, far too many really awkward gross sex scenes to boot... 

The half a star is literally for having a single Ace character, that's it

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexual content

Notably: the rape scene is written in second person

k_galloway's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, War, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

readwithsuzanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Ableism, Racism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

 I enjoyed this more than the first two books, and holy crap the last 1/4 of the book! So much action, and some things I really didn't like, especially how one character is kind of just forgotten by the author. But I did find some of the more annoying/less-likable characters more tolerable and even likable in this book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Xenophobia, Stalking, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Racism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Gun violence, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Torture, Grief, Gore, Ableism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Sexual content

nienke's review

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Rape

ellanarose's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Hate crime, Racism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence