Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

211 reviews

mthornburg13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

erjoseph's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mle11's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit

jokerjesterjoy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Body shaming

kyahfae'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

agakoczur's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Eating disorder

bumblemee's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

I'm sure everything that made me struggle with this book was completely intentional. It just wasn't for me, but I wanted to finish it because I was interested in the solution of the case.

The story was cleverly constructed and the first twist in particular was very well done in my opinion. It was one of those that I didn't see coming even though it was obvious in hindsight, which is the best kind of plot twist. Namely:

The moment Camille realizes that her mother has Münchhausen by proxy (even though she doesn't know what that is in that moment).

Camille had a very clear voice, which was my biggest problem with this book, because it legitimately made me feel sick sometimes. Everything was underlaid with subtle disgust. Sometimes not so subtle. 
No matter what is happening at any given moment, be sure to never feel at ease ... which makes sense, because I don't think Camille is at ease ever.
There's also a lot of sexism woven in there and the way Amma was sexualized hurt a lot to listen to. Yes, she behaves that way, but the way it was written didn't treat her as a hurt 13 y/o behaving this way. She is written like the sexist depiction of a "slutty woman". ... Which also makes sense, since Camille has a lot of issues that would make it hard for her to look at the situation like an adult should. As I said: I know that everything I didn't like was done intentionally. It just made me sick. 

This book left me feeling very angry and unsettled. 

If you are triggered by anything, please be sure to check the content warnings, because chances are high it is graphicly depicted in this book ... I'm sure I missed a lot in the CWs of this review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism

zetiacg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

violetturtledove's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

I didn't think much of this one at first but it grew on me. The plot was definitely my sort of thing (small town history, dysfunctional families, murder) but the writing style wasn't. At the start especially it seemed like there wasn't much atmosphere to it, and some of the plot points just felt too obvious in the way they were introduced. 

The main character is quite unlikable and there's a definite 'ick' factor to some of the descriptions, but it all fits fairly well with the dynamic of the setting. 

It's messed up enough to be interesting but it took me about half the book to really feel invested in the outcome. I wasn't fully satisfied with the ending; it felt a little clumsy and like there were some bits that didn't quite add up. But as I was reading I had the feeling that I was missing the significance of some of the many little clues, so it would probably stand up well to a re-read.

For all it's faults it had me fairly well gripped by the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship