Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

14 reviews

dblue236's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

The more of this author's books I read, the more I think The Girl on the Train might have been a one and done for me. I did finish this one, and I can't say I HATED it, but I was also pretty unenthused by it. I didn't really connect with any of the characters, and the story felt fairly disjointed. The ending was solid, but overall I wasn't crazy about this by any means. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

ahyshia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Twist until the end! I was really engaged. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the cast of people involved. Normally it would be a bit confusing keeping up with so many characters and their points of view but I had no issues with this read. I didnt predict the ending correctly so that it in it self is worth 3 stars. The 4th star is tributed to how quickly I got read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Suicide, and Death of parent

eranty's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide

thedisneyreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This one I just read on my Kindle. It was another recommendation from my cousin (at this point, I will read anything she tells me to read!) It was a good story and it had twists coming until the very last line. One thing I didn't like very much is that there were a lot of different POVs for different chapters and it was a little hard to keep track of who everyone was for about the first half of the book really. But by the two-thirds mark, all of the different ongoing sub-plots really came together and the story finished beautifully. Honestly, just thinking about that last line in the book still gets to me! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse and Suicide

cassiereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

I only docked .25 of a star because the pacing was so slow in the exposition. I understand she's establishing a whole host of characters and I do appreciate it, but it's a book you have to power through the first part of. 

This book genuinely kept me guessing. I did suspect the real culprit several times, but I waffled often. Hawkins does a great job supplying motive and details for each of the suspects without it feeling like a painfully deliberate red herring. 

Hawkins also makes the characters each their own and her style is distinct for each chapter in a different POV (i.e. Helen, Jules, + Sean's chapters all feel genuine vs. the same style with different names as many POV switching books seem to do). She provides a cast of characters who are complex and feel so real. Not every character is deeply complicated but they all have their own established psyches which I loved. 

I can easily call myself a Paula Hawkins fan after this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Vomit

paronomaniac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

exrthalex's review against another edition

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

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

4.0

This book closely followed several seemingly intertwined unfortunate “drownings.” Throughout the most recent tragedies, the characters are forced to confront past trauma and mistakes, so they can understand, learn, and heal. I expected the plot to have a closer connection to witchcraft/the previous “witches” drowned, but it instead felt like a side note. I enjoyed the plot overall, but would have loved if this element was explored more. While the use of multiple character perspectives can be confusing at times, it ultimately complements the story by providing an omniscient POV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

caedycon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I zoomed through this book in two days. Each narrator was amazing at capturing their character's emotions; the writing was great, and while it was a "murder mystery", it was much more about the characters and their inner worlds/conflicts, and relationships with each other. And the mystery just added to that. I was gripped until the end! Not a happy book, but not without hope. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

mabelstulips's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Death of parent