Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Saving Noah

I had this one saved in Scribd for a long time but for some reason never felt drawn to it. I was doing some house chores and decided this audiobook would keep me company and oh boy did it ever make all the chores fly by!

This story is about a mother who finds out her son has molested two young girls through her son confiding in her. I was drawn in right away because I needed to know how she would deal with this news. Noah's parents tell the victim's parents and then the crime unravels in town, destroying Noah's family in its wake.

This book highlights the unconditional love a mother feels for her child amidst devastating news, and what they are willing to do to keep their child safe. Noah grapples with his crime and takes ownership for his actions, recognizing his condition of pedophilia. I'm still not sure I buy this, but I have done no research on this so the story did make me think about how society should treat these individuals who fantasize and molest children.

I predicted the ending quite early on but I did think it was helpful for the story's resolution.

Overall, a very bingeable audiobook that makes you think about the way society treats criminals, a mother-son relationship, and whether criminals should be able to decide their own fate.

Content Warnings

nkerekes's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I have a lot to say but not sure how to put it into words. This one captivated my attention but idk if that’s a good thing.

Before I touch on that, can we PLEEEEEEASSSSEEEEE put content warnings on audiobooks because HO.LEE.SHIT. If you can’t handle the content in this and you go in blind, it can be incredibly activating to your grief, trauma, etc.

I took big issue with some of the things said in this book, including (spoilers) when Katie said Noah could touch her and she still wouldn’t be afraid of him, to which he responded that she’s cute or something. And the other area that bothered me is when mom’s thoughts centered around the kind of abuse Noah did to the girls. There was something about how he “only touched them” which is WILD. And then she goes on to say that their lives aren’t ruined forever like Noah’s and that their doctor’s visits didn’t result in evidence of sexual abuse. HELLO??? That’s A WILD CLAIM.

I understand that the author likely wanted this story to read like a conflict of perspectives and the battle between love and what’s “right” but omg this book is messy, deeply disturbing, and frustrating.

I will never pick this one up again. I don’t regret reading it but it wasn’t enjoyable, I just couldn’t put it down because I needed to know where the hell it was going.

I can’t rate this. I

Content Warnings

kinsportch's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

Content Warnings

aleen_elizabeth's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

kathkaf's review against another edition

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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

3.5

Content Warnings

jessicacalkins's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The writing was kind of bland and so poorly edited at times that it frequently took me out of the story, but I am still giving this book a high rating because the story itself was very intriguing and immersive.

I think Noah’s internal struggle with who he is can be thought-provoking to anyone, about whether or not every human life does actually have true value like some preach. I mean, if that were the case, then why do we treat certain people so horribly? Why don’t we look at each person relative to their unique circumstances? Why do we generalize everyone? Because it’s easier on our brains to just assume?

The ending also took be my surprise, which doesn’t happen often, so I really appreciated that.

Content Warnings

siiidd's review against another edition

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

1.0

I really don't know how to rate this book..

First of all, I disliked the writing. I feel there's a bit of extra details that added nothing to the story. The mother, oh the mother, needs to get slapped with a reality check. The amount of delusion she has about her son is ridiculous. Even as he's explaining to her he's a pedophile she's like no you're not hehehe.

She victimized him every chance she could when he was the one doing unspeakable things to kids. There was a very weird comment made by the daughter that never got addressed either which was unsettling.

This didn't really feel like a thriller & overall the story fell flat for me. I expected a lot more from this book.

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