Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

43 reviews

maddie_0930's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

It was cute and had good diversity but it was boring and a hard read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

Minor: Bullying

ventellina's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

jaidenmarie11's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

MY GOD. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

holliesatchell's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Sexism, Bullying, Racism, Toxic relationship, Outing, Racial slurs, and Suicide

borrowmybookjacket's review

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It's a great book, but Ng tells very human stories and that can weigh on you as you read sometimes. There are good resolutions ultimately, not much is left hanging except for I guess the potential of a relationship. It's a book that you can feel the hurt coming from, but you actually feel satisfied with it in the end. Not happy. Satisfied.

<spoilers>
I found it so easy to relate to everyone here. Not as much the father may be as much of his struggle was racial and let's be real, I'm a squishy white woman, but my parents have a strained dynamic, I have these kind of relationships at varying times with my mother, my father, and my siblings. I am the youngest, tip-toeing around and listening to what was happening in the house. Can't be noticed, won't be noticed. I am the ignored brother with unrealistic goals even though I was clearly working well toward them without people seeing. I am Lydia, struggling under pressure to be Good and Correct and Doing What Is Expected. My parents didn't know I didn't have friends like that and I clung to moments of attention. I think many folks have. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicide, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Infidelity

Minor: Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, and Blood

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Heartbreaking in a way that makes you smile? Or maybe I'm just a little skewed. It's so real. The beauty of the writing style alone hooked me but the story? Too real.

Spoiler

There's a paragraph where mom is thinking about Lydia and how she can mold her future and everything her daughter is going to be that she couldn't and in the middle Hannah is mentioned, as mom is pregnant, and so quickly is she forgotten. She is sandwiched between Marilyn and Lydia, in story and in sentence, just barely acknowledged, but nothing more. That's only ONE example of the writing that had me hooked much earlier than that scene.

So painful. And despite everything that happens the family loves each other so much, in a bad, terrible, abusive and abused way, but as the title shows, none of them know how to tell each other that. None of them know how to be better to each other, but they all want to. I fucking love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Outing, Alcohol, Suicide, and Vomit

aandromeda's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, and Suicide

Moderate: Racism and Child abuse

vedpears's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I think I have become a Celeste Ng fan girl now. The writing is beautiful and mesmerizing  - such great storytelling! I disliked every character except Nathan and Hannah (spelling? I consumed this book via audiobook). Narcissists all around. I recognized so many scenarios from my own family dynamics and those of my friends'. I find it interesting that some reviews I have read said these characters weren't believable. I whole-heartedly disagree with that sentiment and am certain that those reviewers aren't paying attention to others in their lives, are like one of the parents in the book themselves, or live very fortunately charmed lives. 

I think Celeste Ng does a great job threading context/ characters' histories into the current narrative. That story telling tool often irritates me but she does it so well that it doesn't feel like an interruption. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Vomit

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I was fully ready to rate this book 5 stars until I read the twist ending that undercuts the first 80% of the book. Don't get me wrong though: it's beautifully and expertly written. The characters are richly described, have deep inner lives, and have exquisitely unique senses of their self. I appreciated the exploration of family dynamics at play, as well as seeing things from the point of view of characters of color as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book...except for the last 30 pages, which I will discuss in the spoiler tag below.

Spoiler

The catalyst for the entire novel is because Lydia had an accident. Even her death robbed her of her agency. I was going to give this book a five-out-of-five rating because I thought I was reading an actual true-to-life account of a teen struggling with depression, but no. She drowns on accident. Because her foot missed the dock when she was climbing out of the boat.

This book is just another example of literary fiction grief porn. Lydia "had to" die for her family to learn how to live. Even her death is only meaningful to those who are living. Even her death was taken away as a thing meant just for her.

I was hugely disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Bullying and Racism

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

The book was difficult to get into at first, with the slow pacing and long chapters. But I really began to enjoy this book after the first 75 pages! I loved getting to know each character, even if they frustrated me or confused me at times.

The book takes an interesting look at each family member’s secrets, grief, and insecurities. It’s definitely a character driven novel but one that kept me hooked and invested in how it would end!

Ng has a beautiful way of writing and telling stories. After reading this and previously, Little Fires Everywhere, I want to read everything she writes in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child death, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Suicide, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Bullying

Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Medical content