Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

25 reviews

jessicatanderup's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

This book is roller coaster of well-written emotions. A mystery and love story, mixed with horrifying and sobering depictions of the circumstances women and girls endured in Regency England. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

clairevn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

A little heavy handed in terms of its feminism and (lack of) religiosity, but an entertaining read 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

tebs's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

ann_victory_19's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

a_serv's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, and Trafficking

Minor: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

akiskies's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Darker than expected. Well written and engaging. The novel is broken down into a few different episodes/investigations which kept the story moving. Looking forward to the sequel. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

emma_sky's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious 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: Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

geminireader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

What an incredible read! I picked this up in anticipation of Bridgerton Season 3 and I’m so glad I did. I was immediately drawn to this novel because it didn’t center around romance, and while there was a bit of romance sprinkled in, it delivered on its promise to be a unique and adventurous Regency era novel. I wish there was a bit more of warning… I felt the description made the novel seem a lot more lighthearted and fun. This book delves into some very dark topics of the time regarding the treatment of women. I felt a bit unprepared for those heavy topics, so please consider this aspect before you read if you have certain triggers. Otherwise, I am eagerly awaiting the sequel! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Child death, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

thefragranthand's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

This was just what I hoped it would be. I wonder how long I have to wait for the next one.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Excrement

Moderate: Mental illness and Trafficking

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

lorialdenholuta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

 I noticed other reviewers expected a lighthearted romp, based on the book’s cover. This is a fine lesson in NOT judging a book by its cover. Our Ill-Mannered Ladies, while quite prim and proper in appearance, are anything but. In the Regency Era, women were treated as less important than men. If the trio of adventures in this book are based in some truth, women were treated horribly, often to the point of torture and even death.

The stories are dark, revealing the worst aspects of Regency men’s behavior. But, this is balanced a little by the inclusion of a good man with a sympathetic heart, who believes in the value of women. You won’t recognize this at first, as he’s a character that’s not fully revealed at our first meeting. This was one of my favorite aspects of the book. the slow revelation of a truly good and worthy man.

But back to our Ill-Mannered Ladies. 42-year-old twin sisters Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook are close enough to share ‘twin language’, with the ability to exchange entire sentences via a meaningful look. They are also financially independent and quite capable of looking after themselves.

Together, they fight crime!

Okay, that was flippant, but really, they do. Specifically, crimes against helpless women committed by men who believe their gender makes it all right to do so. This book follows their exploits during three adventures. Each deals with different situations featuring ladies in distress, though I found the sister’s cunning plans to be very similar in each story. This didn’t detract from my interest in the stories, it was just something I noticed.

I mentioned earlier that these stories are a bit dark. They need to be in order for the women’s plights to be meaningful. I must caution though, the final story is *very* dark, and to my mind goes completely overboard with the use of a certain substance that all humans produce but are usually not compelled to wallow in. My goodness. The digging of a short trench and a daily bucket of water would have solved the problem right away. But the author clearly felt the need of some shock value to underscore the horrors of the situation.

That aside, I was quite absorbed by the lives and adventures of the two sisters, and all the women who benefitted from them. Also, I’m a big fan of the Victorian era but my knowledge of the Regency era has lots of gaps. In particular, I liked learning about sealing wafers. I knew about sealing wax, but wafers were new to me, and now I love them. So practical! Go google them and see for yourself. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma