Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

20 reviews

cadybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Loved it, but it was too long. Hear me out. 

This book is told from two perspectives in alternating chapter. 
In 1915, we follow Eve, who is trained as a spy and sent to Lille in German occupied France to gather and pass on information to the Alice Network, a network of British and French spies during WWI. 
In 1947 Charlie, a pregnant college student from the US, is searching for her cousin Rose who disappeared in France during WWII. She hires Eve to help with her search, and their stories intertwine more than expected. 

When I say, the book was too long, I mostly mean the first half. Charlie's story, especially compared to Eve's, feels really underdeveloped in the beginning. I like that we get to know the characters slowly and in a natural way during their travels together, and the payoff is really great in the end. But it was still hard to stay invested in Charlie's parts for at least the first 200-300 pages, because nothing actually happens. 

The rest of the book is just fantastic. The character work is amazing, so many strong female characters. I literally felt the tension during all the spy business scenes. Reading the author's note at the end, which explains which characters, events and details were real, made me realize how great their portrayal was in the book as well. Facts and fiction fit perfectly together. 

I liked how all kinds of aspects of women's lives during the wars/post-war are shown, the relationships between the characters, the focus on their mental state. I also think it was great to have a protagonist with a speech disorder who uses this weakness and turns it into a strength. But there are several scenes that were hard to read. Kate Quinn does not shy away from detailed descriptions of gruesome and bloody scenes. So yeah, definitely check out trigger/content warnings.

Lastly, one of the things that is really hard to pull off is a satisfying showdown/ending. And I think it was done masterfully here. A lot of times the showdowns in books are either too abrupt or too slow for me. This one is perfectly timed. I love the setting, the characters involved, the emotions, the dialogues, the action, the execution and resolution. All the little details come together nicely. 
And after the showdown we get an ending that's neither too short, nor too long. I'm really impressed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mmalone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Classism

madmantha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Beginning was a bit slow for me but once it really begins to pick up, it does not stop. 
Both narratives blend together seamlessly in the final arc; everything comes full circle.
One of my favorite epilogues ever written; really pulled on the heart-strings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

hadley_w's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and War

travelthrupages's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

book_perk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

2.5

 For some reason, this book really droned on for me and felt incredibly long. The story is told from the perspective of two women and two different timelines. While Eve's perspective was enthralling, riveting, and fast-paced, I absolutely despised reading Charlie's perspective. 
This is a very specific pet peeve of mine, but why did Charlie have to be good at math as one of her defining characteristics? This added nothing to the story and Charlie never really relied on her mathematical abilities except to calculate tips and keep track of the money throughout their travels. The analogies of 'solve for x' were overused and frankly used incorrectly. Also, Charlie supposedly studied mathematics in university and when given the opportunity to talk about something she was passionate about with Finn she chose the Pythagorean theorem? Of ALL the beautiful mathematical theorems, results, and proofs... she chose the Pythagorean theorem? I really wish authors would stop writing about mathematics with a basic high school understanding. Eve and Finn are the saving grace of this novel and their story lines kept me reading until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Grief, and Murder

emakay's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility and Excrement

literaryliaisons's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

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

1.5

I went into this novel thrilled at the prospect of reading a women-centered piece of wartime fiction. But the parts of this book that were really compelling — namely, the story of the fictional spy Evelyn Gardiner and the characters that surround her — were overshadowed and burdened by the vacuous, one-dimensional first-person POV of Charlie St. Clair, an entirely unnecessary addition who is spoiled, whiny, and frighteningly insensitive/ableist. How I wish this story could've just been about Eve! Instead, the disjointed POV shifting and lack of tonal consistency made the entire reading experience feel like a nauseating seesaw ride. Add in the cultural insensitivity of "Finn's gypsy girl" (yes, you read that right), and you've got a mess on your hands. I sincerely hope that another writer will capture Louise de Bettignies's story more effectively in the future, because The Alice Network leaves quite a bit to be desired.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Ableism

tatitos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Rape, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder