Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

8 reviews

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was a pleasant surprise. I typically read YA as like a palate cleanser, I have been reading more difficult literature lately. But this one was tackling was deep topics, trigger warning beware. While it did take me a minute to get involved in this book, I was hooked at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

csandra_10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

What a bloody read omg. Set in an exclusive private school of ANA this is a trippy mystery which follows Sade trying to figure out what happened after her roommate dissapears 24 hours in.  

The secrets in this are dark, with trigger warnings at the start definitely necessary to take caution of if they could be upsetting. The untouchable elite always elusive it’s shocking to see how everything may be linked.  Full of death, assaults and drugs it’s horror to the core and each persons secrets is heavier than the last. 

I didn’t see the plot twists coming especially towards the end, but was warned by the slow burn sapphics we get to see grow throughout the book as well as how it addresses just like in ace of spades how minority voices and issues may not always be treated equally and the issues that this can bring besides the blatant racism.  

Overall I loved this, and was happily suprised as I felt ace of spades was overhyped so despite loving the plot description of this I was cautious going in but I am glad that I have Faridah another chance as I will definitely be tuned for her future releases now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

styxx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sydapel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I enjoy the atmosphere of dark academia thrillers and this hits that note perfectly. At it's core this is a dark queer reimagining of Mean Girls in a British boarding school, and tackles some pretty heavy subject matter. While thrillers aren't really my genre, I think this author is one of the most interesting and underrated young adult writers out there and I'm always curious what she has to say. Parts of the book did drag for me, and I though aspects of the third act were paced a bit weirdly, but it overall was a super enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Suicide, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

a_libra_library's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Dear Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 

You have just become one of my new auto buy authors.

This book is full of suspense, mystery and a true look at what dark academia means in young adult fiction. To critique and comment on educational institutions and the system and structure. 
The audiobook was amazing as well, I love when extra production is put into an audiobook to make them more engaging. 

If you love a story that keeps you guessing, full of puzzles and anagrams and unreliable narrators then this is the perfect book to recommend. This is so much more than a YA mystery thriller and I hope that anyone picking this title up can see that once they're done. 

Also there is a cute animal sidekick so, bonus points. 


 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

TW: Drowning

bookishkellyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• 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

4.0

Newly orphaned, Sade arrives at ANA and is sorted into a dorm house (kind of like Harry Potter), but the shenanigans that follow feel like HBO’s Euphoria at a boarding school in England. Just like the author’s previous book, the plot started out amazing but got confuddled after the ⅔ mark. The ending felt a little anticlimactic, and I was disappointed about the omission of the fate of some background characters. Overall, the characters and plot twists didn’t seem too far-fetched. The only truly unrealistic scene was when Sade got waist-length faux locs installed for only £80!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail