Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

44 reviews

megan_george's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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? N/A

4.0

I really enjoyed this. The realistic look into some of the horrors of these children’s homes was eye opening and sickening at a lot of times. I’m glad I got to experience this story and I’m able to share it with others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Grief

isabelmargetts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Dementia, and Death of parent

sjanke2's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

jmiles758's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-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: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

alexklinect's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5 stars rounded up… An important story that needs to be told! Dual timeline: the historical storyline was heartbreaking, but the present-day storyline was pretty predictable. Some key plot elements were wrapped up too quickly at the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

dflemmons's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a great book if you’re wanting to cry it out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts

wellreadmegs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

This book has been on my TBR forever and I finally dove into this one. It took me a while to get into I'm not going to lie. There was a lot of backstory and world-building in the beginning. I feel like the juiciest parts of the book didn't happen until 200 pages in. But once we got to the mystery part of the book I was hooked and wanted to know how it would end. Because things started moving so quickly in the plot toward the end I was concerned about how they were going to sort everything out in the last 35 pages. 

I appreciate books like this that tell a story about a real part of history. I didn't know anything about the Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage in Memphis in the 1930s. It's obviously atrocious and a terrible thing to happen but I can't help but think about the South and its parallels to slavery. This book clearly didn't touch that subject but it's the same atrocities & parallels to me. 

Overall I learned something new reading this book & appreciated the story. I just wish it would have picked up quicker the first 50 pages were incredible slow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

pferdina's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Based on true horrors of the abduction and sale of children in Memphis Tennessee between 1920 and 1950, the novel alternates back and forth in time. One story follows the Depression era story of Rill Foss and her siblings, taken from their family houseboat and then adopted by various people. Only three of them find each other again. The other story is Avery Stafford, daughter of a senator and the one who discovers her grandmother’s true history while struggling to figure out who she wants to be.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

vickimeihui's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

autumnpayne's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Some parts felt too long while the ending felt rushed. Not in love with the book but appreciate the story and lessoned learned by the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping