Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Nestala bez traga by Chevy Stevens

43 reviews

crushedvelvet's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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? Yes

3.5

CW: Contains multiple scenes of graphic sexual assault.

Still Missing is a difficult read. It follows a 32 year old realtor named Annie as she navigates the trauma from being held captive for a year. Told through a series of therapy sessions, we weave between past & present. Reliving the harrowing events that changed her & watching her fight to pick up the pieces. 

The plot adheres to genre conventions for the most part. An example being the archetypal predator with an Oedipus complex. The one way it does diverge is what makes it a cut above the rest. This book doesn't pretend everything is over once victim escapes. It shows the elusive, non-linear reality of the healing process. And that a large part of it is grieving the person you were before trauma changed you. All in all not bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Confinement, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Stalking, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Cancer

simplyammee's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Confinement, Torture, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Stalking, Cancer, and Alcoholism

Definitely check trigger warnings! However, as someone who has a rape trigger, I found skipping over any scenes just fine for me (it does mention rape a lot though beyond the scenes; it doesn't beat around the bush with it). This book is not worth pushing yourself with triggers though, and again there is A LOT.

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

To say I liked/enjoyed this book feels wrong because this book was very heavy. Let's just say this is the first ever thriller where I was shedding tears. It did take me some time to get into (about 60 pages, but after that, I was hooked) because of how the story was formatted. So, just to prepare you the story is told through therapy sessions where only the main character speaks, and in these sessions, she starts off talking about a detail/event that happened to her in the present then goes into what happened to her then it ends off with her in the present again (that's how each chapter starts and ends). The first 50-60% of this book is her (Annie) recounting what happened to her and how she escapes. And my gosh it's so heartbreaking to read. 

Something I want to point out is that I personally like how the author presented Annie's personality through how she acts and speaks because you really get a feel into the type of person she is and how this experience has shaped who she's become. I think the author did a good job in presenting what an experience like this can take from someone and something as tragic as this creates deep scars into someone; scars that may never go away. 

The rest of the novel explores the present-day investigation into who did this to her and why. Now I personally feel very indifferent towards the twist. I understood the twist, however, I understand why many people feel like it was a cop-out and that it lacked luster. Especially because I don't think we got enough closure especially pertaining to certain characters like Luke (I really felt for him; he was so kind). 

I did not like Christina and I'm glad Annie finally let her go. I can't believe she even forgave her the first time. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that she and Luke slept together while Annie was out being tortured by "The Freak".

  Overall, if you do think about reading this I really do suggest checking those trigger warnings. I've never cried in a thriller until I read this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body horror, Death, Violence, Torture, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Murder, Medical content, Cursing, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Cancer, Car accident, and Animal cruelty

sunshinemagik's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Child death, Stalking, and Gaslighting

rchll's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

This read was absolutely incredible and I have such a book hangover now. I loved that it was written in the form of Annie's sessions with her therapist - but trust me, your knowing that she eventually gets home does NOT make this any less tense or 'twisty-turny'. This read is dark and unabashedly shows you the abuse Annie undergoes while being held captive, but also the way trauma affects us and stays with us long after 'rescue'.

I thought each character was so incredibly complex - I really never knew what to expect from anyone and often found myself questioning initial assumptions I had made, and  at other times, feeling like 'Oh I should have gone with my gut here and NOT questioned things'! Nobody - not even side characters - are 2D or simple.

I absolutely TORE through the last half or so of the book - while there is not a ton of action (in the classic sense), this is where I felt I had no choice but to keep going just to see how it all played out...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Torture, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse

xtritagonist's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Ableism

molly_doll's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

jennielc's review against another edition

3.5

This book was slow and kind of disturbing.  I have never felt so bad for a character in any book I’ve read. 

I liked how it was written during therapy sessions though and never saw the twist coming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

alexatthelake's review against another edition

5.0

What an unbelievably fucked up book. This book made me all kinds of uncomfortable in so many ways but I just couldn't stop. Chevy Stevens absolutely knows how to write the most twisted, horrifying thrillers that are totally different than any others. I loved that this book was told through the main characters sessions with her psychiatrist, it definitely added another element to how the story was portrayed and received this way! The audio was phenomenal. 

I truly had no idea what direction this story was headed. I had so many theories yet even if I had figured it out, I wouldn't have believed myself. It's just so fucked up but so damn good. PLEASE be aware of the trigger warnings in this book as there are a lot of graphic ones - please DM me if you'd like to know details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

wyabook234's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent