Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

9 reviews

doahdancer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

What I can say for certain is that I loved the writer's voice and how the story sucked me in and pulled me along. 

What I didn't enjoy was the spell constantly being broken by the unblievability of most characters' decisions. I'm not an avid reader of mysteries by any means, so some of this might be genre-typical and I'm not in-the-know, but the way everybody kept secret even the most benign thoughts and feelings after this huge tragedy did not resonate with me. When huge disaster strikes, I've always known people to discuss it at length with loved ones. They analyze it to death wondering if things could have been different. Not to be too IRL, but 9/11 is a great example for the Americans in the room. We still obsessively discuss even the smallest details of that day, where we were, how we felt.

So yeah, the secrecy plot device didn't work for me.

I also was really disappointed by the ending. There's a huge climax, everyone is involved, all the secrets come out... but last chapter? All you get is

the main couple and their kids

. No go backs on any of the side characters. Just a mention of some of them being in touch, but nothing about their outcomes.

Gah!! The experience of reading this book was so good so I'm still rating it pretty well, but the ending left me bitter.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

kbairbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Enchanting. This was the coolest magical, murder mystery I've ever read! It was so atmospheric and lyrical and magical and WOW. Kinda spooky without being scary. Betrayal. Lust. Grief. Longing. Regret. This book is chock full of raw human messiness. A pretty incredible read for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

oneillkd's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

imds's review

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

stagemanaginger's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

I enjoyed it! I feel like people describing the vibe of it as Gilmore Girls meets mystery made me think it would be cozy? I wouldn’t say this is a proper cozy read. That being said, I really enjoyed it and watching the mystery unravel. I wish there was more explicit witchiness throughout the whole story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

slvt4b00ks's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I read this book very fast so I would say I was invested in how things turned out but the only wow factor was really the twist at the end.  The author does paint a very vivid picture with beautiful words which I can appreciate, but I just felt like it fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

karenreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

lovelymisanthrope's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I received this book in a FairyLoot box, and I was very excited to give it a read!
"Spells for Forgetting" follows Emery, a young woman who as a teenager swore, she would never stay in her hometown of Saoirse Island. On the eve of her planned escape into the real world, her best friend is found murdered, and the court of public opinion places the blame on Emery's one true love: August. Now, well into their adult years, August has returned to the island to lay his recently deceased mother to rest. Can Emery and August rekindle what was stolen from them and uncover the truth about what happened decades ago?
This book is the perfect fall read, and I wish I would have picked it up in October. August's family owns an orchard and all of the details and descriptions about the island and orchard made me crave changing leaves and sweet apples. Small town, close-knit stories about places like Saoirse Island also always make me think of cooler weather.
This story was well-crafted and interesting. From the beginning, I was sucked into the story and committed to proving that August was set up and someone was hiding something far more sinister. I loved that this felt like Emery and August were getting a second chance, but their "love story" did not overshadow the mystery of this book.
I had a really great time reading this, and I look forward to picking up more from Adrienne Young in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol