Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

107 reviews

daintydoe's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

I can’t remember the last time I was so disappointed in a book. The author seemed really focused on trying to shock the reader rather than develop her characters. The things that needed explanations were ignored & the things that didn’t were over explained. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

hjb_128's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

readtomea97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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: Cancer, Cursing, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

egpoff's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault

bigolscrewup's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

untold stories shape people's lives both when they are withheld & when they are revealed

Everything is connected to everything else, if you only go far enough back in time

3.75/5⭐

I don't know if this is because I'm coming off of reading a lot of action/crime books, I just couldn't understand the need for secrecy. Other than that, I absolutely loved the book. I didn't like the prose at certain parts of the book but it didn't ruin the story in anyway for me. So many social and political issues are discussed in this book, but I would have loved those discussions in the book more if the author had named them explicitly rather than trying to convey something without actually naming it, which just leaves a bad taste for me, although, again it could be a "me" thing and it's not like other readers would feel how I felt when reading those parts of the story.

Even though it's labelled as a mystery with a mention of "murder" in the blurb, I just couldn't care much about it, reading this book, I felt like it was inconsequential, because so much had happened to Eleanor in the last five decades, that I just felt like she and everyone else are making a big deal out of it ? Even though I had that feeling, I still enjoyed this book and it made me smile and cry in various moments. Hoping to catch the TV show that was adapted from this book next

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Grief, and Murder

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was really good and i came this close (👌) to crying, a look into family loyalty, history and relationships,
Sometimes felt like benny and byrons (if thats not how u spell them im sorry i listen to the audiobook) characters could at times have been a bit more developed but that was mainly cause i really liked to development of the others

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

zara89's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

beate251's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

This is a book about secrets and forgiveness.

I have first encountered this story as an eight part Disney+ series. Now that I finally got round to reading the book it's based on I can see why some people have problems with the narrative. It feels a lot more disjointed than the series, with a constant back and forth and introduction of seemingly random characters who turn out to be someone we didn't expect. You'll just have to accept that there's a big cast, and we're following them all.

The book deals with a lot of difficult topics (my content warnings are probably longer than my review!) and it sometimes feels like it's too many, even though some, like the rape, are barely mentioned. The TV show fleshes the time in Edinburgh out a lot more.

The writing is beautiful but I would really recommend the Disney+ series - it makes the book a lot easier to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Rape, Terminal illness, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

kyriannaj's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Hate crime, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation