Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen

7 reviews

bookswithabbey1's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

etpreads's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Miscarriage, Blood, and Vomit

kermitluver69's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Stalking

Moderate: Incest and Miscarriage

whatsmacksaid's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

daniellestarredpages's review

2.0

I honestly have no idea why I finished this book. I gave it an extra half star just because I manged to finish it so that bumped it up from 1.5 stars.

I have to say I wasn't the biggest fan of the way the author left the existence of ghosts up to readers. As a concept I understand it but personally I felt this wasn't the story to leave that plot point open.

I was quite apathetic toward the main character and found her P.O.V a slog to get through but I also found the interspersed psychologist sessions to be slow as well, so I really can't say zi enjoyed much of the of the writing in this book.

The Sapphic relationship, I think did a good job of showing a toxic obsession. So that is one element I guess I could add to the pros list concerning this book.

Overall I can definitely say I didn't enjoy this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Incest, Infertility, and Miscarriage

coobugz's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

So at first, my thoughts were ‘wtf am I reading?’ I’m not a big horror and ‘spooky book’ reader, and the first bit made me nervous. But the further I got into it, the harder it was for me to put the book down. In a way, it’s like a dark ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ mixed with a less haunting ‘The Shining.’ 
I appreciated the interspersed different POVs, and looked forward to the doctor’s POV/case notes. I felt defensive and protective of Roos, and have respect for Dr. Montague. Not gonna lie, Ruth weirds me out and pissed me off sometimes, but that’s plot for ya. 
A solid 2 claps for the ending and epilogue. 👏👏
I received the book through Goodreads giveaways as an advanced copy and was super excited to read it before the release date, and to give my first review. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Cannibalism

atlastheninth's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

I received a free ARC of this book and here's my honest review.

At the beginning the author writes: “If you strip down My Darling Dreadful Thing until nothing remains but its essence, you will not find a horrific secret at its very heart. You will find, instead, a love story.” And I could not say it better. 

 

Overall this was an enjoyable, easy flowing read. I liked the writing, I liked the characters an I liked the pacing. 

I also did enjoy the interview excerpts every other chapter but at the same time I felt like they took out some of the tension. 

 

The ending was nice, but a bit boring? The story just kind of ebbed off with no real climax. 

Personally I had hoped for something a bit more exciting and maybe that the question if the spirits are actually real would have been answered, but that's just my preference. 

 

"I know what she wants: to curl herself around me like a comma and press her gaping mouth to my throat so she can drink my blood." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Misogyny