Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Idealne dziecko by Lucinda Berry

33 reviews

bekahzabel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Perfect Child is told in alternating points of view. Focusing on a couple who’s struggled with infertility, a social worker assigned to a strange child abuse case, and a seemingly innocent mysterious child.  

All the Bauer’s ever wanted was a baby. When a mysterious young girl shows up at the hospital with terrible injuries, she wins over Christopher Bauer’s heart. The Bauer’s decide to take Janie into temporary foster care, with the intentions of helping her transition and adjust to a better life. As Janie’s behaviors and past begin to unfold, things seem to get darker at every turn and crossroads. 

Boy oh boy, things got pretty dark between these two covers. Very hefty child abuse and violence trigger warnings. 

For me, The Perfect Child had me white knuckling my kindle, and salivating for the next page. Even though I guessed some of the twists, this dark tale was a great read for me. My only qualm is how abruptly it wrapped up. 4/5 stars! 🌟

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

averageawkwardasian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Version: audiobook narrated by Christine Williams, Erin Bennett and Dan John Miller

 

Start slow and warm then gets rather upsetting towards the end. The contrast paired with the rush towards the stark ending makes the whole experience more unsettling. 

The 3-person narrative brings different perspective to the same events and added more suspense and mystery.

Certain triggers in the later part of story might be hard to stomach.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infertility, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Confinement, Blood, Medical content, and Murder

theinstabookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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 started this on audio but switched to my Kindle because even though there were two narrators, they alternated voices every chapter, not character. And hearing a female voice read a male character's perspective when I had just heard the male character read his perspective, was jarring and created a disorienting reading experience. I wish the narrators had alternated based on characters because I was enjoying the audiobook other than that. 

I wouldn't call this a thriller or even a suspense, but rather a psychological fiction. Janie drove me nuts and just acted like a spoiled brat. If her behavior had been more sinister I probably would have liked this more. There was nothing particularly shocking - just a child with a lot of psychological trauma and issues that acted out and needed professional help. I wouldn't recommend this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Abandonment

katelynndzindzio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

If you have ever wondered if someone is born evil or if that is possible then Janie is here for proof. Chris and Hannah wanted nothing more than to have a happy family, as a surgeon and nurse they were the perfect parents for the problems that Janie had. Or so they thought. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

april0727's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The ending was terrible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

angelanorland97's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

sincerely_inayah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

This was every lifetime movie with an

extremely oblivious husband who believes in his demented child more than the wife hes known for far longer. Wanted to shake sense into him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

emama's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Death of parent

kaylasbookgram's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

🤯🤯🤯

What did I just read?!?! I don’t think I’ve been this hooked on a book like this since I read Verity By Colleen Hoover. This was my first Lucinda Berry book and most definitely won’t be my last, especially if all her books are as great as this one. This book was impossible to put down the second I started it. 

Hannah and Christopher are a lovely couple who are struggling with infertility. As they start to consider the option of international adoption a little girl is admitted to the hospital whose mother was murdered and has clear signs of abuse. After being part of her surgical team Christopher falls in love with the little girl and talks his wife into fostering and then adopting her. What they didn’t fully expect was the toll it would take on their marriage. The little girl ends up pitting the couple against each other and causing Hannah to eventually have a mental breakdown. 

I absolutely couldn’t stand Christopher. Even with the therapist confirming Hannah’s fears he still refused to support her or even be there for his wife. I felt so bad for Hannah and understood her terror although I definitely think she went to far in her actions near the end. The ending of the book was extremely frustrating because it just ended pretty much in the midst of a thought. Left us wondering what happened I think a more satisfying ending was definitely needed. Overall I enjoyed this book and it got a 5 star review in my book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

pippamillerxoxo_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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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, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail