Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

144 reviews

jkpheart21's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Murder

jmiles758's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

alexklinect's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5 stars rounded up… An important story that needs to be told! Dual timeline: the historical storyline was heartbreaking, but the present-day storyline was pretty predictable. Some key plot elements were wrapped up too quickly at the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

angievansprang's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

This book does a great job with story telling and making the characters come alive off the pages. It was an incredibly sad read, especially due to the aspects of the book that are not fictional. Knowing that these things really happened to live children for years, unchecked, is a horrible thought. I’m glad this book is out there and was even able to bring clarity to some survivors.

The parts I did not love were how the author & the characters spoke about most of the Black characters. I understand that much of this book was set in 1930s Tennessee, but I found certain descriptors unnecessary and racist.

Fuck Georgia Tann and her conspirators, may they forever rot in hell!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Dementia, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Death of parent

nikkilerae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

amkleintje's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death and Sexual assault

haleyschmitz's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Really did not enjoy the writing, subplots, or main character Avery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

butilikeit's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Pregnancy

sam_plott's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

wellreadmegs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

This book has been on my TBR forever and I finally dove into this one. It took me a while to get into I'm not going to lie. There was a lot of backstory and world-building in the beginning. I feel like the juiciest parts of the book didn't happen until 200 pages in. But once we got to the mystery part of the book I was hooked and wanted to know how it would end. Because things started moving so quickly in the plot toward the end I was concerned about how they were going to sort everything out in the last 35 pages. 

I appreciate books like this that tell a story about a real part of history. I didn't know anything about the Tennessee Children's Home Society Orphanage in Memphis in the 1930s. It's obviously atrocious and a terrible thing to happen but I can't help but think about the South and its parallels to slavery. This book clearly didn't touch that subject but it's the same atrocities & parallels to me. 

Overall I learned something new reading this book & appreciated the story. I just wish it would have picked up quicker the first 50 pages were incredible slow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol