Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry

23 reviews

zarakoconnor's review against another edition

dark tense 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

1.0

I tried so hard to read this book without DNFing. The way she has written an unlikeable narrator was very successful, I absolutely hated this woman and what she thought and continuously believed. She makes her son the victim in this situation and this was disgusting to read. HOWEVER!!! The purpose of this book felt like it was intending to address stigma of pedophilia and the way sexual predators are treated by the community, and I absolutely agree that we as a society need to shift our thinking about this toward a harm reduction and mental health model, rather than carceral, as people deserve treatment. But this is not what she did!!!!

The ending implies that after all of the commentary about how he isn’t a monster, and all the excuses made for him by his mother and the caring professionals, he actually IS a monster and is irredeemable and will never get better so he should die

which absolutely adds to the stigma this author intended to challenge!! The notion that pedophiles are irredeemable is both dehumanising and makes this behaviour seem inevitable, with people being victimised because “that’s just what pedophiles do” rather than attempting to treat them and work on prevention.  Also, the chapters from his perspective lend me to believe that we are MEANT to sympathise with him and how poorly he was treated, which is not handled gracefully when the underaged victims in this book are downplayed and treated as dramatic for their trauma, but I’m supposed to be sympathetic of his trauma? This makes me so angry, and I do not understand the positive reviews. This book failed. Lucinda Berry, do more research on pedophilic disorder and treatments because it is clear you skimmed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Grief

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

misshrider's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a very hard book to read because it is so heavy. I have never cried so hard while reading a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

paperkindle's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

This is a difficult book to review because of the subject. I felt his mother downplayed a lot of what he did. Saying things like "Noah’s case was the least serious. He was like the kid in treatment for smoking pot a few times surrounded by kids who shot heroin." And "Their (the girls) lives weren’t going to be ruined forever. They just weren’t. But, the world wouldn’t be satisfied until they’d annihilated him. He was more of a victim than those girls" SA has trauma on everyone, whether you're a kid or an adult. The ending explained a lot about Noah, I didn't see it coming. 

TW: rape, sexual assault, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, suicide, cancer, grief, violence, pedophilia

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

heartfelthullabaloo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Maybe because I’m a boy mom of a 15 year old, but this story punched me right in the gut. How utterly devastating. How do you go your whole parenthood protecting them from predators to this? The whole thing was too real and devastating. I’m just gutted about it. I pray I never have to endure this reality past the pages of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Religious bigotry

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

0.5

Hey, quick question. What the fuck was this??

The mom was so fucking insufferable, oh my god. It’s “yes my son did something terrible but can you PLEASE get over it?” every other sentence. I feel like this book tried very hard to garner support and sympathy for pedophiles, even making light of the molestation and that does not sit right with me. Perhaps I’m a bit of an extremist but I do think they should all d*e 🤭 btw, I didn’t appreciate the twist. The dad being a secret pedophile when he could have just been normal and against pedophilia and utterly disgusted with his child? Lame and he should have k*lled himself too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty and Cancer

This entire book is about a pedophile, features a lot of brushing off/under reacting of the abuse, and almost victim blaming tbh.

zoebb94's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

4.25

I can understand based on the contents of this book and what it tackles why someone would rate this poorly. I kind of went in blind (I didn't know much about what the book was about); I just read it on a whim. I think the author did a good job of handling the sensitivity of the topic without making it seem like she was romanticizing the perpetrator. I found myself feeling sympathy for both parties (more so the girls). I'm not going to lie getting insight into Noah's feelings about children did make me grimace and angry, but I couldn't help but have a tad bit of sympathy for him because no one hates himself more than Noah does. Also, at first, I understood where the mom was coming from, she just wanted to protect her son, but I really don't think she understood the severity of what her son had done which is why I completely understand why some would find her annoying (the dad was no better in my opinion). The ending and what happens still leaves me conflicted. 

I don't condone the mom helping her son die (in the eyes of the law, that's 1st-degree murder), however, I completely get what she did it. Mercy killings (I think that's what they're called) are very complicated to me when faced with those scenarios. It really shows you how everything isn't so black and white.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Murder, Outing, and Abandonment

voilajean's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, and Grief

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

An incredibly tragic and heartbreaking read. A unique perspective of a family struggling in the aftermath of a loved one causing harm - but being genuinely remorseful. Where do we draw the line between accountability and punishment? 

I wasn't a fan of Adrienne's justifications and excusing tone sometimes of her sons actions, but I can absolutely see how parents would have similar thoughts processes. It's not right, but it felt real. 

All of the characters were so complex. What a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, and Incest

sporadicallybookish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I honestly don’t know how to rate this (maybe a 4?). It felt like I was reading a true-story or some sort of memoir; at no point would I have classified this as a thriller, so I felt a little misled. There was one twist, of sorts, in the last part of the book - but I had guessed that a mile off.

Saving Noah was beautifully written, unsettling, and thought provoking. I didn’t find this book all that sad, I was disappointed as the review that made me pick this up mentioned being brought to tears. And yet I read this in one sitting and remained interested throughout, albeit a bit sickened by the justifications that the mother tried to make for her son’s behaviour. 

Please check content warnings for this book, it centres on a heavy subject but there are mentions of other things that some may find triggering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Vomit