Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

L'amore bugiardo by Gillian Flynn

148 reviews

mashtonok's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Was interested in the first half, then invested for 20 pages of act 2, then completely uninterested in anything said or done until the last 30 pages. The last 30 had me hooked. This was a roller coaster of whether I wanted to finish the book or not. 

The writing itself was super vivid, and the characters' voices were super strong. Glad I decided to finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body shaming, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Stalking

ineedrhythm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

abbrown118's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Murder

emilyacv's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

I agree with Pooja’s review that this book starts slow… why do I feel like every thought the characters have is described in 3 ways? Then things start to pick up as you realize what is going on, but I found the last 75 pages or so ground to a halt again. I think by then we’ve figured out the twist and it feels a bit like the plot is just repeating itself. You’re definitely not rooting for anyone, and I think at this point I realized there was no ending that would really satisfy me. I didn’t know what I wanted to happen, so the ending just kind of… happened. I didn’t feel any kind of way about it. That being said, Gillian Flynn writes in such a dark, gripping manner and when it’s at its best, you are hooked. That is the majority of the book. It’s a twisted, kinda dark, kinda messed up story where all the characters kind of get on your nerves, but once you start reading, you WILL be flying through the pages to figure out what happens next.

But do people really think about killing other people this often??? I found those parts extremely disturbing. Also I just don’t love the “she lied about and framed a man for sexual assault” plot point… and it happened twice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

itkit's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Self harm, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Kidnapping

gimmemorebooks's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

lavenderlovely's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder

acogna's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.75

Read this to simulate the experience of being a marriage counselor to two psychopaths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer

sharkfan's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

The ending was terrible.  (Spoilers) there were things the cops could have done to find out she was lying - figure out where Desi was on the day she went missing, for example.  I felt like the author didn’t want a happy ending so made it seem like Amy was untouchable, when I don’t think that’s actually the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Death of parent

razylin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

It takes a bit to get into it. I didn’t truly get invested until about halfway through part one. Then it started to slow down again after part three, and after that I was just anticipating getting to the end.
I think the twists are actually quite fresh and exciting. The twists that make your hands shake and jaw clench and force you to reread the page because you cannot believe what is happening are what Verity by C****** H***** was trying to achieve. The event revealed at the end is predictable and expected, but from all the tumultuousness of the story, I think the tameness of the ending is sort of refreshing.
Gillian Flynn does an Amazing (lol) job of getting you to love Character A and hate Character B and then swap those feelings and again it goes. It’s funny because it’s their flaws that are mainly present when building their characters, but through each shared perspective and description of each other you begin to love them and root for them despite what a contradictory desire that is. 

Also one more thing:  I can see why Amy and Cool Girl blew up on TikTok… she/they are the peak of Girlboss feminism. But I think the book forces you to recognize how flawed being a Girlboss actually is in the most disgusting way. And published in the era where the idea of Buzzfeed feminism and the Girlboss was just beginning to emerge… Gillian Flynn is a fucking genius.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault