Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

19 reviews

jvickers0502's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Tons of triggers to be aware of first. The summary is insufficient. There is a lot of sexual violence and PTSD. I don’t consider these spoilers, but women, especially, need to know these are a big part of the story before deciding if they are going to read it.

I’ve read Roxane Gay’s before. I know from her other books the traumas she’s shared, and the whole time, it felt like she might’ve been working through some of her own trauma. It was impossible to read the book without feeling compassion and sorrow for her. It was equal parts deeply emotionally brutal to read as well as beautiful to see how Mirielle mends her way back to life. And other than Michael, Glen, and Victor, I think I hated every man in the book. In the end, I closed the book full of hope for her (both Mirielle and for the author) and grateful to Lorraine and Mona.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

myrthekorf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

atharp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

First off don’t read this book without checking trigger warnings. It is not for the light hearted. This book will make you uncomfortable and break you apart. It is heartbreaking but so incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

taylorlanxon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

randomkatisms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

spacebras's review against another edition

It's good but damn, this is a little too much torture porn, respectfully.

Getting RAPED WITH A GUN is absolutely too much.

I don't judge anyone for reading this, but Christ... And the bad guys being like militant leftists is also weird? I'm not sure, I'm just gonna drop it imho.

Seriously, all respect to Roxane Gay, but I cannot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

melissalivanos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

4.0

The trigger warnings on this are a small novel in themselves. This book is an absolutely brutal but very well told story. Proceed with caution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail

emzireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail