Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - 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

gillygild2342's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow. This was a tough book to read. I found myself wanting to shake Adrienne and scream at her to open her eyes so many times. Very much a book told from the perspective of a mother who loves her children unconditionally and perhaps does so to a fault. I know I would struggle immensely if this happened to me and in fact one of the many reasons I’m not having children is the fear of what they could become in this world. Noah’s story is heartbreaking and enraging and complicated.

I knew after the 2nd HIM(THEN) chapter that this wasn’t Noah’s POV and I guessed it was the dad after the next one. That twist was disappointing but also I’m concerned that the signs of distress from Katie meant something more but that was not explored. Adrienne staying with Lucas (at least for now) was a gut punch. I did for a moment suspect she was an unreliable narrator and we were going to get a confession from her. I desperately wanted to believe in the beginning that a twist existed where someone was blackmailing or threatening Noah into taking the blame for actions not his own but that is not the case here. The suicide scene at the end was so well written, I spent most of the book angry at Adrienne and disgusted with Noah (though Barry’s writing did make me empathize with Noah after the several assaults he experienced) but his playlist to die to curated for his mother made me cry.

this is a very dark and complicated story and you should absolutely check your trigger warnings but this was an excellent read that forces you to confront DARK topics and realities of this world.

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

roro_roro's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

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

gigi_40's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

Content Warnings

krisalynnx's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.5

this book is like not okay. i have never been more morally conflicted in MY LIFE, EVER. This book was truly something else i still do not know how to feel… at some points adrianne did come across as VERY ignorant and biased.. and just ignorant overall. BUT THE ENDING??? LUCAS???? insane. honestly insane. This is also the first book that has ever made me teary eyed ( very close to crying). but gah damn😧. At some points i was sickened to my stomach but Berry wrote in such a way that you want to find out more just because of the topic in itself. i do wish that we could get more of Noah’s perspective but i guess the book being written from the mothers perspective made you weigh both sides of the situation. i don’t think i would be happy with a specific ending (good or bad if you will). but yeah this was a mad one still.

*ps i’m also in dire need of a pallet cleanse after this.

Content Warnings

jmanson2017's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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