Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

41 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.25

Book Rating: 2.25 stars

   I found this book hard to enjoy because I hated almost every character! They were all just dripping in privilege and entitlement. It made me honestly just scream at them and burn down our current inheritance policies. 

   Catherine was particularly unlikeable, as she didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities, she and Dan were the worst of the bunch. Dan was simply creepy AF. 

   The main mystery of the story wasn't too hard to solve by about halfway through the book. It was pretty obvious it was one of the kids. I honestly wish the author had gone another route as to who was the killer. I think Jenna's boyfriend would have been a good one to go with. But that's just me! 

   It wasn't terrible, but not nearly as good as I'd hoped with the hype. 

Narrator Rating: 2.0 stars

  This book just begged for a full cast audio, but instead, they just had one narrator which made it confusing, even in a 3rd person narration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Abandonment

shaleen64's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

An upper class whodunit that encourages you to guess the murder from an unlikable and limited pool of suspects.

Whilst the multiple points of view meant the flow of the book was well paced the content was not, nor could it be described as thrilling. It read more like a crime drama and based on this book I can’t say I’d buy more by the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

nahni'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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

sharonus'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse, Blood, and Vomit

cmbohn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

I love these juicy family dramas, and this one was pretty solid. It kept me guessing until almost the end. One thing I didn't love was the narrator. She did an okay job with the characters, but her narration was pretty flat. I think I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity

ashwatever98's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Stalking

Minor: Pregnancy

This book was probably my most favorite read thus far. Everything about this book was incredible. The suspense and the way the events unfolded kept me on edge throughout. This is murder mystery writing at its best!

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

I liked this one, even though I had a suspicion about the ending

because there just wasn't enough info about the character who ended up being the perpetrator. They just seemed too absent from the narrative.

But this was very intense, and I really like Ms. Lapena.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infertility, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Infertility

brookey8888'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

3.25

This was entertaining, but I’ll never think of it again. It had a lot of reveals throughout which I didn’t see coming and I wanted to know what happened. As for who did it,it didn’t shock me. This was fine, if you like this author or if this sounds good pick it up, but if not your not missing anything amazing in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kit_kat006's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Absolutely love this book. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! I would absolutely recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Murder