Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding

3 reviews

megwilli's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

Narration: 🤝
Multiple POV = multiple narrators. Thank you. Prevents confusion. Somewhat necessarily it meant certain characters had a cartoony voice depending on who was narrating a chapter, but I'll take it. Hate it when I forget whose POV we are in 2 min through and all it reads is "Chapter 13" in the app.

Main POVs: 👍
  • Parent. Overconfident. Convinced their history of integrity gives them a free pass even if they were to be shown in a nefarious situation.
  • Parent. Overcompensating, hypercritical, and simplistic in their parenting views, which they use to justify their own immoral behaviours.
  • College-aged "child". Overconfident and sheltered. Not familiar with how to process the "unpredictable" moments in life. Relies on a selfish sense of empathy to justify hiding and ignoring abuse.
  • Senior in high-school "child". Well-intentioned "ally" missing the point. They gloss over their vulnerabilities and biases with idealistic justification.

Atmosphere: 👍 Curious, mysterious, and sentimental, with the slightest hint of irony.
  • Set in a suburban Portland, Oregon neighbourhood with all the immediate family members under one roof

Cred Rating 🤷‍♀️: Suspended disbelief plausible
Not OTT or nonsensical, but relies on coincidence and convenience to drive the plot.

Growls and Howls 🐺:
  • The characters weren't unlikeable, but also not likeable. They were kind of annoying all 'round. Sometimes I cheered for them, sometimes I wanted them to get their comeuppance. So, could be "I don't care about any of these people" red flag for some
  • The mystery and flow was good, but near the end the plot suddenly seemed rushed, to the point I had to slow down the audio to process what was happening and how it tied in to what we knew about all the MC POVs. 
  • Hate ambiguous endings? You might hate this story.

Reading Journey 👍: 
Stop at a little cafe for a snack on the way through a town and eavesdrop on some drama the next table over. 

Mood Reading Match Up:
  • Family drama due to unhealthy parental dynamics (not abusive)
  • Suburban neighbourhood mystery
  • Dark-ish cozy mystery
  • Secrets, gossip, the tea, behind closed doors drama

Vibes: 😅☹️😬

Content Heads-Up: Blackmailing, Hazing, Rape (mostly off page), Underage online content

Format: Library Audio via Libby

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micaelamariem's review

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I’m starting to think maybe I do like thrillers if they are done properly…
I loved the multiple pov which helped me dive into everyone’s secrets while still having an unreliability to the views, keeping me guessing. I also loved how the conclusion is still a bit open ended and I can come up with some of my own interpretations even though the big questions are answered! 
TWs: SA, addiction, violence
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