Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Girl A by Abigail Dean

24 reviews

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Excrement, Infertility, and Vomit

sam_is_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Medical content, Addiction, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Infertility, and Drug use

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

 Girl A by Abigail Dean was good, but I wish it focused more on the actual events than the legal aftermath. I am absolutely fascinated by cult behavior, and found the aspects of this novel that explained her parents unraveling into religious cult mentality fascinating. I think this novel fell short, however, since the scenes where she is interacting with her siblings as an adult are drawn out and overflowing with what feels like filler information. I think the transitions are a bit hard to follow, but overall I did enjoy the story and the information it pulls from the Turpin family case brings this work of fiction so much closer to reality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child death, Torture, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Death, and Domestic abuse

bedtimesandbooks's review

dark sad tense slow-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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Child death, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Torture, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, and Pregnancy

annabunce's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, Violence, Confinement, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

the_escapist's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, Physical abuse, Vomit, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

hurricaneflora's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Physical abuse

annabulkowski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Vomit, Child death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Stalking, and Sexual violence

emilycecilia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Misogyny, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

mrsrjg's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

This book was just ok but it felt a bit like there was something missing and I'm not sure I can quite put my finger on what. 

It was a quick enough read but the chapters focused on one child each so it made them a bit too long which felt it drag sometimes. I also felt the paragraph time changes were a bit jarring, like there were times when you would just be on the cusp of finding out what was going and it jumped to a different timeline; I just wanted her to get to the point. 

It was written quite well (although really grim, so if you're squeamish maybe not the book for you) and at times I had to remind myself that it wasn't real (although possibly inspired by some real life cases) as it came across very much like a memoir.

I felt the big reveal fell a bit flat which led up to the ending feeling a bit empty for me; the whole book felt a bit like a case of the chase being better than the actual reveal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse