Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

31 reviews

nellebelle's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The book is split between the two stories of a present-day narrator and a narrator from the past. I was far more interested in the portion from the past, as the present-day mystery felt pretty obvious to me, but the whole book was still enjoyable. I really liked how well it illuminated a little-known part of southern US history (or at least something I didn't know until now). Worth the read :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Rape, Dementia, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism

syrah78's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

4.25/5

I could not put down this novel. Avery could not discover the truth fast enough for me. Wingate really brought to life this hidden tragedy in American history. It was heart wrenching and just awful as each sibling disappeared from Rill. All the characters were given a really nice depth and the river was beautifully written. I met the author who wrote this book and she said that she always gives you a happy ending, so I had to just keep telling myself that and the ending really was nice.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

erinb1414's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

isabelmargetts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Dementia, and Death of parent

alexklinect's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-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

3.5

3.5 stars rounded up… An important story that needs to be told! Dual timeline: the historical storyline was heartbreaking, but the present-day storyline was pretty predictable. Some key plot elements were wrapped up too quickly at the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

angievansprang's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book does a great job with story telling and making the characters come alive off the pages. It was an incredibly sad read, especially due to the aspects of the book that are not fictional. Knowing that these things really happened to live children for years, unchecked, is a horrible thought. I’m glad this book is out there and was even able to bring clarity to some survivors.

The parts I did not love were how the author & the characters spoke about most of the Black characters. I understand that much of this book was set in 1930s Tennessee, but I found certain descriptors unnecessary and racist.

Fuck Georgia Tann and her conspirators, may they forever rot in hell!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Dementia, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Death of parent

wellreadmegs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

This book has been on my TBR forever and I finally dove into this one. It took me a while to get into I'm not going to lie. There was a lot of backstory and world-building in the beginning. I feel like the juiciest parts of the book didn't happen until 200 pages in. But once we got to the mystery part of the book I was hooked and wanted to know how it would end. Because things started moving so quickly in the plot toward the end I was concerned about how they were going to sort everything out in the last 35 pages. 

I appreciate books like this that tell a story about a real part of history. I didn't know anything about the Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage in Memphis in the 1930s. It's obviously atrocious and a terrible thing to happen but I can't help but think about the South and its parallels to slavery. This book clearly didn't touch that subject but it's the same atrocities & parallels to me. 

Overall I learned something new reading this book & appreciated the story. I just wish it would have picked up quicker the first 50 pages were incredible slow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

ladyaligator's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infertility and Dementia

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Alcohol

vickimeihui's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

forgetfullucy17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy