Reviews with content warning for Rape - Saving Noah

This book is so hard to review because it is very well written with intense character development and from a very original angle, but it is also incredibly difficult to read with so many trigger warnings I don’t know where to begin. If I had known what it was about or how it would make me feel, I would not have read it and for that same reason, I cannot recommend it either.

Content Warnings

spl2d's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad 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? Yes

3.75

Perspectives on a few issues I rarely think about. This is a valuable story to hear/read.

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lucykae's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-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

4.0

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ksamaine95's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

4.0

I signed up for Psychological thriller.. this was giving horror.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I give this rating because I can’t imagine how hard it was to write about something so controversial, triggering, and nuanced. This is how you use your pen to inform, confront and create space for difficult real life topics. not demonized, not romanticized.

I would not say this made me question my morals or force me to “see both sides”. It did shine a light on the harsh extremes we put on delicate and devastating situations.

As a story by itself I would give
2 ⭐️⭐️

I found the characters deeply irritating. I think the mother and father had to be rigid in their roles and stances for this to work. As someone as in the mental health field, I wasn’t triggered by the content as much as I was internally at war with my professional brains and my human/gut reactions to the characters & their responses.

I spent the last three chapters repeating “girl — hell no!” I think the twist was necessary. I called it early but felt maybe that would be too obvious. I’m glad it was not what I was bracing myself for.

I’ll probably sit with this one for a bit before reading more by Dr. LB.

Content Warnings

readingwithcait's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad

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

4.0

Please check the trigger warnings before reading.

This story is about a mom, Adrienne, who finds out that her fifteen year old son, Noah, molested two little girls. This sends shockwaves through not only their family, but their friendships and community. Moving forward, she struggles between being absolutely horrified and having nothing but unconditional love for her son.

Wow, this is a heavy one…but such a good story. The grief that Adrienne feels is so real. She’s grieving the son that she’s lost. He’s there physically, but she’s mourning the person she thought he was. I did enjoy the bit of a twist at the end, although I hated the fact that my intuition was right all along.

Content Warnings