Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Täiuslik laps by Lucinda Berry

114 reviews

mrsrjg's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

*This review is based on the audiobook.*

This book is the most frustrated I've been with a book in a while, it just felt so pointless.

I'll start with what I liked about the book; I really enjoyed the short chapters and the multiple POVs as it made for a quick read, I actually sat up far too late to finish only to be disappointed. The story in itself was actually very thrilling but almost too much as I could feel my anxiety getting very high; not to mention the things that Janie was actually doing just left me feeling very strange.

OK so this book has no ending, I feel this should be put out there somewhere; according to the author she was asked by her editor to cut the epilogue and she did which was a major mistake. I have since found a reading of the epilogue on her Facebook page which if this had been added I would have increased my rating but people shouldn't have to search for the ending of a book.

And another thing, the characters in this book, in particular the husband, I have never wanted to slap someone so hard in all my life; he just pushes his wife aside to support this child he barely knows, to the point that he lets his family get hurt and is totally blind to the actions of this psychotic child; and also the way that he attached himself onto her from the beginning was borderline creepy behaviour for me.

Also, I feel like this book deserves major trigger warnings at the start as I felt majorly anxious and even burst into tears at one point due to past trauma. 

There is a short sequel novella which I will read to see if any more questions are answered as not a lot were in this book regarding Janie, her actions and her mental capacity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

kim_reads22's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book has been on my TBR for a while, and when it came up on my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I figured it was a good idea! 

We follow a couple who are successful, happy and looks as though their lives are I perfect, other than that fact that they cannot have children. When a little girl who has been abused and abandoned is brought to the ER where they both work, they develop a love for the child and apply to foster, then adopt her.They learn early on that life with this child is going to be hard, from the therapy, to the tantrums and everything in between. 

I gave this one 4 stars. I liked the pace and the writing style, jumping each chapter between the two main characters and the social worker being interviewed by police about whatever had happened at the end, As the book went on, I began to dislike Christopher more and more as he was just so keen to take the child’s side over that of his wife. The events that happen at the end had my visibly picking my jaw up off the floor. Though I will admit, that I was not a fan of the way the story ended, it felt really unfinished, and it was the difference in 4 and 5 stars for this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, and Murder

alyssaslitreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

4 stars because NO END?!!? I did not like that lol I really wanted to know what Christopher was gonna have to say. 

Ouuuu!! I have so much I can say about this book. All in all, I was very invested in how the story was going to end. I also think I may check out another one of Lucinda Berrys novels. It was a lot more graphic than I was expecting and it definitely needed some trigger warnings but the plot lowkey ate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse and Grief

cemsreadingcorner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

This one was intense. There was a lot of drama. Crazy sh!t was always happening. Never read a story where a little girl was so disturbed she was doing things you never thought a young child would do. I listened the audiobook while reading, and I wasn’t crazy about the female narrator. She was reading weird, which unfortunately is usually how it is when I listen to audiobooks with female narrators. Sounds like I’m listening to a robot or gps system. 😂 The guy who narrated Christopher’s part did exceptionally well. Both men did well. I wish I could say all of them did great. Also, the narrators kept saying different words from what was written in the book. So, that was an error on their part. And about the story, I don’t know what happened to Janie in the end. I don’t know what their plans for her were. Was she going to stay with a foster family? Or were they going to institutionalize her? What was going to happen to her? I didn’t quite understand that. Either way, I don’t think there’s hope for Janie. I doubt she’ll change. But I hope there’s a second book in this series because I would like to see Janie’s progression over time.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 11:12 AM

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

zetiacg's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

rosehecker's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? N/A

4.0

what the f did i just read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Vomit

katemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This is my third Lucinda Berry book. She is definitely a great thriller author. This one was not my favorite. I found the content very difficult…the animal abuse, child violence, etc. I wanted it to be over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, and Murder

rachel_jones03's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

everleighrose5's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

I'm only giving it a 3 because I enjoyed her writing style. I HATED being left without any answers. I'd really love to see a second book or even a trilogy come out of this. 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

diannasbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

I found Christopher irritating. He was so blind when it came to Janie. This book was so frustrating. And what even was that ending? Where is the rest???

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail