Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

23 reviews

bamitstamz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

“I imaged my anxiety as an amphibian, a slick, nimble creature dancing under my ribs. That’s how I felt, this anxiety. Alive. Trickery. Slippery. Quick. Difficulty to catch.”

I loved the first half of this book, I thought Vesper was a wonderful character to follow and I was so interested to find out more about her upbringing.

I needed to know more about her famous mother, wanted to see how she’d interact with the family she left behind when she left the cult (which is truly the only word for them!), and learn more about what Virgil and its residents were hiding from the outside world. 

I went into this book with only the blurb as my guide so I was in a state of shock when I found out what the cult was about. 

Then it just became predictable and I was mildly disappointed.

I don’t want to give too much away, and going into more detail about my thoughts will do just that, but I just feel let down.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Harrison’s writing was beautiful; so descriptive and each character felt unique from one another, I can’t fault that at all. 

I think I was just expecting something different, something that would give the story more than the generic cult premise, and for some people maybe this does just that, but I predicted (and I have the texts to prove it 😂) everything about 40% of the way in and was almost let down by the fact that I had.

Also, probably controversially, it just didn’t need an epilogue. The final chapter, in my opinion, should have been the ending, allowing for the reader to make their own conclusion about what happens.

Ultimately, this just wasn’t for me, and I’m gutted that that’s the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

savshelfinger's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

This was a miss for me; I thought the characters were flat and was expecting a much more thoroughly developed depiction of religious and family trauma. 

It read like YA fiction and didn’t really do much with its major themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual harassment

shirewitchreads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment

rebelkel's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gore

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

The middle section after the first major event of the book is a bit clumsy in structure, but this book is still a hell of a fun ride with sardonic wit, great horror, and a great reminder that you can break toxic familial cycles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Be warned that this book deals with familial dysfunction, estranged relationships between mother and daughter, Satanism, cults, PTSD from familial trauma, bad work environments, the nature versus nurture argument, and descriptions of hellfire and brimstone.

katlinstirling_reads's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Bit strange, I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. Felt a bit predictable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

bb_11's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I was routinely shocked at how the author managed to make such an interesting topic so trite and bland. Whenever the chance for an interesting development occured, she always seemed to pick the biggest and most entirely predictable cliche possible.  If this was their intention and they sought to replicate the air of cheesy horror that is an often discussed theme of the book, they still managed to make it as watered down as possible at every chance.  Must read if your favorite books are the ones you can guess the plot twists in by the 1/4 mark.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

karalynaa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment