Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

16 reviews

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

I was so excited to read this book even though I put it off for so long. (It was my BOTM pick a year ago). I love fairy tale retellings and I love when they’re dark and gritty too, like a homage to the originals which were meant to be dark and gritty. But this book was mostly disappointing. It took me a while to decide how to rate this, because some of it was actually well-written and I did feel like I was in New York and London. 

But there were things I really didn’t like and it wasn’t until reading the other reviews that I could put words to it. I will say that a main complaint of others is not of mine—BUT still check trigger warnings. There is SA in the book but I thought it was going to be more graphic based on the complaints and it wasn’t the main point of the book. The book is more about Peter Pan kidnapping children (which again is kind of a homage to the original). 
I think it had potential if we saw more of Peter and how he grew dark—or even got to see what Neverland has become! That would have been much more interesting than just chapter after chapter of Holly worrying and sad with very little action to fix the problem. 

Also, someone else said they were annoyed how Holly wanted to sleep with everyone she met, and honestly that was kind of annoying. Though I’m all for sexual freedom, I felt like this took away her agency. 

The author also tried to push a romance that didn’t work for me—there was very little burn in it, it was just 0-100. In a sense, my main complaint for everything is that. 0-100, details of worrying but no detail of the action and how they solved the problem. I’m not going to be keeping this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

prof_pelon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Rape, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Death, Child death, Medical content, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Addiction

Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Grief, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Violence, Pedophilia, Drug use, Stalking, Child death, Car accident, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

sfbookgirl's review

dark mysterious 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

2.0

I am sad to report that Darling Girl missed the mark for me. And while Peter Pan is my favorite children's fantasy story, evil Peter Pan just doesn't do it for me. In this tale, we learn more about Wendy's granddaughter Holly and her daughter Eden who suffers from a rare aging disorder. After Eden mysteriously disappears, Holly knows immediately who is responsible: the one and only Peter Pan. Sent on a wild goose chase, Holly frantically looks for her daughter with the help of a private detective named Christopher Cooke (hmm look at that coincidence).

I found the plot of Darling Girl to be all over the place and ultimately, boring. There are quite a few trigger warnings like kidnapping, rape, and abuse that just did not sit well with me, nor do they seem necessary. The elements of romance were downright strange and oddly disturbing...and also did not seem necessary. Other readers have enjoyed Darling Girl, but this retelling of Peter Pan just didn't sit right with me. I am curious to hear your thoughts if you have read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Child death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Grief and Suicidal thoughts

mamaquiereleer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Drug abuse, Violence, and Car accident

lbris2484's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Child death, Grief, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

brittanyboston18's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Drug use, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child death, Car accident, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Violence

cchedest's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

3.5

If I didn’t love the original story so much, and if I wasn’t such a sucker for a dark retelling, I honestly don’t think I would have enjoyed this book one bit. It felt young, and maybe it was supposed to be more YA even though it include rape, sex, drugs, and other mature topics. The writing style felt simple, I wanted it to be more detailed and less rushed. But it was still fun and a quick enjoyable read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Rape

Moderate: Drug use, Child death, and Violence

rachelsbookishlife's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Minor: Rape

shelbibroeking's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

0.5

I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t. The concept was so interesting, but there were many parts that left me feeling very uncomfortable. There were rape themes not only outright but vibes from the first “interaction”, as Peter was child-like….The pining from Jane towards something she felt owed to her from Peter felt off-putting as well. Peter Pan was more of a plot point than a character, which could also be part of the reason it falls so short in my eyes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident

livreads16's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

This book was not what I thought it would be. The writing was decent, the characters were alright. The ending of the book was nice. I’m really glad Jane believed her daughter; that was really nice and very necessary.  I feel like the twist of the story was too dark… like it was just way too creepy and uncomfortable.

Spoiler

Peter Pan is a rapist??? And he takes advantage of teenage boys???

Like why would you write that?!? Idk I just feel like this book could have stayed in the drafts. I’m really glad I didn’t pay for this book. And I’m really glad this book is over. Would not recommend to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Car accident, Drug use, Drug abuse, Blood, Rape, Grief, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Pedophilia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Medical content, Murder, and Alcohol