Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Der Papierpalast by Miranda Cowley Heller

46 reviews

kittycaserine's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault

velmad's review against another edition

4.5

I really liked this book. 

Very surprisingly , the main characters experiences with family mirror a lot of mine, right from the grandmother to the mother . 

The generational trauma resolved itself slightly with every generation but it was still very apparent that this is a very troubled family line. 

The author , still have a pass more than I think she should have to Elle's mother.  She wasn’t a good mother .  She was neglectful and selfish and narcissistic.  She allowed her men to abuse her daughters emotionally and put her daughters in harms way. It still sounded a bit like her mom was a wonderful person but maybe , true to my life , that next generation will come out even cleaner than Elle and Anna. 

I can see how she ended up having an affair.  I don’t like it but I see how it happened . 

Most definitely this was a difficult read to get through but it was very well wrote. 

The only marks I took off were because I often couldn’t keep track of the characters and jumping back and forth was done differently than I had ever read before.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

kmart29's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

bombshellbibliophile's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual content

Not worth the read. Terrible ending. Past and present was too back and forth. Characters were utterly unlikeable. Very slow. Author has poetic descriptive writing style but when not paired with good plot and characters it’s wasted. Way too much sexual trauma, with minors at that. that don't really add more to the plot. Surprised this is a NY times and Reese’s book club rec, now I know not all endorsements of such will be to my liking.

kristinj1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I went back and forth on giving this book 5 stars, or 4.75 stars. I tore through it in three days and felt like I saw pieces of myself in the main character - and, honestly, I have no quibbles with how it was written. So I landed on 5 stars, even though I think I hated some of the story. The sexual abuse of kids by adults and by a stepbrother was really, really terrible to read. I'm glad the author didn't dwell on it in the writing in order to traumatize all of their readers, yet I am still questioning if something that clearly has such a major impact on the main character's life (not to mention her mother's before her) should have had more time devoted to it in the writing? But that becomes dangerously close to trauma porn, which would mean that's all I remember from this book. By tucking it away in our main character's mind, it also tucked it away in our mind. Still flagging there, causing an irritation whenever you went across it, still making itself known. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

rwlongino's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0

This would have been so much better without the explicit child sex abuse scenes. It felt like trauma porn and took away from the narrative. Would have been four stars if those scenes would have been more subtle/nuanced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcohol

margardenlady's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Eleanor shares a day with us.  A day of discoveries, both internal and external.  Through this day, we are also invited into flashbacks to her childhood with a neglectful, critical mother, a horrible step brother and a childhood friend/love she has never forgotten. We learn about family dynamics, loyalty, love, friendship, all in a spectrum of honest, raw feelings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Cancer

rnbookworm17's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

0.25

Needs a trigger warning. I was not prepared for the descriptive CSA/rape storylines. I lost all respect for the author and book despite pushing through to finish the book. Do. Not. Recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape

amcgrail's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer and Murder

kyraelisabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment