Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Las chicas by Emma Cline

21 reviews

lindseyas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

More than the story of a girl becoming involved in a cult, this book is all about girlhood, growing up and growing into your own skin. Evie is a helpless girl that thrives off of male attention, validation and feeling accepted by the people around her. Russel's cult is a representation of this commonly feminine trait — he is able to use his charisma and air of acceptance to bring in naive women that want the same thing as Evie. He accepts them for who they are, gives the attention that they so desire and makes them feel special. The cult is much less a physical thing and more of a metaphor for this traditionally feminine idea, how young girls are desperately in search of a home where their flaws are considered beautiful, where their spirit can be free and where men are there to guide them and treat them like they are princesses. But, this cult of society has a dark after-effect — this validation only lasts for a small period of time and can results in violent, deadly and disturbing consequences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

blaesgreen's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this. It is outrageous, but so are cults. The writing is extraordinary and she really captures place (California) and time (present + majority 1969) so well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

decie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Death of parent

carterwattsss's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Domestic abuse

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

The first couples pages of the book were over-the-top flowery language, and I wasn't sure if I was going to stick around, but it calmed down a little bit. I think the strongest parts were the descriptions of the very challenging time of pre-teen/early teenager-dom, when girls are really trying to just figure out how they fit into the world. I did not like the use of "Asiatic" to describe childlike banter - that feels.... not right and insulting to Asian languages. Just really unnecessary. I'm not sure if I'd read this author again because I might just not be able to get on her level of stuffed sentences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

terrabby's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

2.0

No lo he odiado pero me lo habían hypeado mucho y me ha dejado bastante indiferente. El tema sectas me interesa más bien poco y tampoco creo que la parte psicológica que sería la más interesante se desarrolle demasiado. Parece un poco un collage de escenas morbosas con un toque de coming of age que en realidad para mi gusto es la única parte que vale la pena de la novela. Mucha gente dice que no le gusta la voz de Evie pero a mi me ha parecido bien, solo me hubiese gustado que me contase una historia diferente. Las partes de adulta me sobraban muchísimo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

bethybooevans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Just didn’t live up to the hype or my personal expectations at all. I felt that the present day Evie and the narrative surrounding Sasha and Julian was very irrelevant and a lots of unnecessary content just to give the comparison between younger Evie and Sasha.
The book would have been more engaging had the focus been on the cult and the facts surrounding it. 
However, the gruesome men were portrayed well and Evie’s relationship with Susanne was intriguing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Blood

katelynleonardi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder

readingrainbow_butmakeitspoopy's review against another edition

dark sad tense

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

lavieenrose's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol