Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

19 reviews

kimveach's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

Dark, creepy, and I couldn't put it down.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cassroberts89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Whoa. That was a doozy. I haven’t been that riveted to a thriller in a long time. No spoilers, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the very last chapter. I thought the way everything played out was just surprising enough without being implausible, that the very end wasn’t totally necessary (even if it was more in line with what I envisioned for at least the second half of the book). I think leaving off that last chapter makes for a much more thought provoking read, but that’s just me. 

Still, 4.5 stars rounded up 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Thanks to the publisher and Goodreads Giveaways for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

acarolinabelle's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

Multiple POV, multiple timelines, so the story comes out in pieces with a twist at the very end. The characters are former foster sisters, now adults, and the foster mother, a narcissistic abuser.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse

cheri325's review

3.0

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. These three girls were raised by a foster mother, Miss Fairchild, at Wild Meadows. They were told that they were so lucky to get a wonderful placement, but what went on behind closed doors was another story.

Years later, they've moved on, though they all bear the scars from that time. But they're making it until a body is found under Wild Meadows. Whose body and why?

This story is dark, but I hung in there until the last chapter, which was a huge no for me. So, I knocked a star off. That's all I can say without spoilers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Sexual content

kaylasbookgram's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

What on Earth did I just read !?!? 🤯🤯🤯

I absolutely devoured this book! I will say please k is there are triggers for this book in my opinion and the biggest one being child abuse.

Right when I thought this book couldn’t get anymore dark the ending just jumped out and made my jaw drop to the ground! And that alone gave it five stars for me. However the entire book was so incredibly done. I love all the shocking events and turns of events. I loved trying to figure out what happened to Amy along with the three girls. Just bravo on this book 👏🏻 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nanirump's review

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

taylormoore's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Trafficking and Kidnapping

holdenwunders_'s review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

Man I did not enjoy this. I think it was honestly misrepresented in advertising and as what Hepworth usually writes. For me, this was definitely not a thriller/mystery and wasn’t in the genre at all. It slogged on and switched between three characters and their past perspectives weaving a story of abuse, foster care, and child endangerment. As a survivour, this came across as a weird glorified story of children that are abused, are messed up as adults, and then by the end it’s all good to go. I had a hard time finding any interest in this as it was all just abuse, abuse, this child was abused. It wasn’t even triggering, it just lacked any sort of depth. It read more like a fucked up memoir of being raised by an abusive foster parent than any sort of thriller or crime story. And then at the very end, PLOT TWIST, this person was lying THE. WHOLE. TIME. This really missed for me and I honestly don’t think I’d read another by this authour in the future. 

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

torturedreadersdept'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail