Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

35 reviews

jcinf's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

So good. This book was fascinating to me. I’ve heard of women spies during the wars, and I’ve actually read The Lost Girls of Paris (which I also recommend). So I’ve read a similar historical fiction book before.  

I love the intensity of the chapters. I honestly lost a lot of sleep reading this book because I couldn’t put it down. It has been a while since cliffhangers have gotten me so well. 

The characters were fantastic. The “bad guy” was truly an evil person, and I loved that. Sometimes you don’t need to build a villain out to have complexity. Sometimes evil can just be evil. Especially in a time of war. And I think in this situation, it worked great. That said, the villain wasn’t a flat character either. They never felt underdeveloped. I always knew their motivations and I think that worked so flawlessly too because of the nature of being a spy means learning someone’s nuances and what makes them tick. 

So action-packed — which I loved. But also lots of character development and character growth. 

My favorite part (not a spoiler I promise): the representation/depiction of just really cool women. Really badass, intelligent, clever, courageous, interesting women. And knowing it was all based on reality made it even cooler. 

Loved this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mbrogs2024's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug use, Gore, and Rape

fedoratheexplora's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death

charrrchar's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Classism

Minor: Antisemitism

emileemaree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

spongefoot's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

4.25

At the middle and the very end i would give it a 5 but I think the author could probably knock about 100 pages off and the book would be better. But this is my first successful read from the little library box in my neighborhood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

anne_reader's review

adventurous inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kailiyahknight's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

epruta's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

emka12's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

I know I'm enjoying a book when I'm thinking about it outside of my reading time. It was worth staying up until 1:30 to finish.
Eve's side of the story is definitely more interesting, but I found Charlie's POV helped balance the tension a bit. It's also nice to see Eve from a 3rd person perspective. What a beautifully written story, and what a great tribute to our actual war heroines and heroes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Blood

Minor: Excrement