Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Vicious - Das Böse in uns by V.E. Schwab

35 reviews

ahpets's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

molzeus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Emotional abuse

jgalla's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

donatio's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

As always V. E. Schwab did not disappoint.
I loved the writing style and how she skipped back and forth between the past and the present. The characters were well-crafted and I found a connection to every one of them, especially Victor's group of strays. 
It was not really action-packed but I still loved how the story evolved. 
Before reading one should check the trigger warnings, because it gets dark at points and "There are no good men in this game" is quite true. The mix of flashbacks and present might be annoying for some people too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

irinalast's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

Jumping timelines, complicated characters with justifications of their thoughts and actions. Themes of villains vs heroes and the people in between. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

nie_fertig's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Shoutout to my friend Elian for recommending this book, and my friend Myla for wanting me to read it as well! Let me just say, the pacing is slow - especially in the beginning - but then it all comes together and everything crumbles chaotically in the end - I LOVE it!! These characters are so, so flawed too and it's really interesting how Schwab writes the two main characters (Victor and Eli) to not be likable and for the audience to not really pick a side between the rivalry because they're both horrible people and only think of themselves (except when they think of each other - you CANNOT tell me victor and eli aren't gay for each other - even though they want to kill each other, they think about one another ALL THE TIME like they literally woundn't have a purpose in life without one another - it's similar vibes to Shakespeare's Coriolanus and Aufidius).
Anyway, I also wanted to mention even though you're not supposed to be Team Victor or Team Eli, I'm still Team Victor because at least he doesn't say "I'm going to kill in the name of God," unlike Eli, which is terrifying and gives me The Batter from OFF vibes (wanting to "purify" the entire land, even if that means he has to kill his "monstrous" wife and child UGH). So, I'll see how the second book goes and see if I'm still Team Victor.
P.S. Mitch is a big softie and I love him <3 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

danireads01's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

kt2e56's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

WOW. This was excellent. Genuinely thrilling and so dark and suspenseful which I’m a bit surprised by as my only other knowledge of V.E. Schwab’s work is The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue which has its moments of darkness but is so vastly different. Kudos to Schwab for now giving me two books, one swoon-worthy and one brooding, that I’ve completely fallen in love with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

anthasplans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

It fascinates me every time I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

nebulasaurus's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment