Reviews tagging 'Torture'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

45 reviews

saskiarodenburg's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

This was so difficult to rate. It was well paced with well developed characters but overall

the whole thing felt very victim blamey especially when it came to Josie and Walter. Was Josie a bad person? Oh for sure BUT I simply can’t accept that Walter wasn’t a pedophile who was a “good father.” Like sure, he was a good dad but at the end of the day he was a pedophile who married two different very young (teenage) girls. ALSO, Roxy supposedly killed her girlfriend Brooke and just continues to dunk on her mom on the podcast etc? Especially when her mom helped her cover up the murder and just never told anyone?!? Insane behaviour.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Torture, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

lucyrudd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

amandab0514's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lesliermonk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

katwritesandreads7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book started off slowly, but once it picked up it REALLY picked up. I was on the edge of my seat and devoured the second half of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

smreads24's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

ylimehurst's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Torture, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Drug use

okiecozyreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

Lisa Jewell is so good at coming up with really creepy characters who have disturbing thought lives! This is no exception. 

Alix Summers is celebrating her 45th birthday at a pub and another woman Josie Fair notices they share the same birthday and lets her know they are birthday twins. Josie realizes Alix is a podcaster and comes up with an idea to tell Alix her story because she needs to change her life. 

It appears everyone has already read this one!
But if you like
- unreliable characters
- questioning of what is true (hence the title)
- a mid-life story
You might enjoy this one!

“Anyway, it’s weird isn’t it? The idea of two people being born in the same place, at the same time…
…
But to meet one of them. On your birthday.” P15

“He doesn’t deserve to know every last thing she does. Nathan has his own priorities, his own secrets. She should have some, too.” P81

“… got what you might call an elastic relationship with the truth… When she doesn’t like the reality of things, she finds a reality she prefers.” P163

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Eating disorder, Torture, and Violence

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

1.0

When it comes to ambiguous open endings, I usually don't mind because I can imagine what I want to follow as an epilogue.  That requires having a good foundation though and this book lacked that in spades.  When the title is the book, you question everything.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

daffodilcherry's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A psychological thriller following the link between two women, Alix and Josie, who meet when they realise they share their birthdays. Josie then asks Alix to make a podcast about her, unravelling her life. Interspersed in their tale are flashforwards to a true crime documentary made from their story. 

This story reads like a Netflix/BBC miniseries that gets crazy popular and that everyone's mum is obsessed with. The first 50% is amps up the tension between the two women, but ultimately it goes along very slowly. The second 50% is fast paced, desperate and dramatic. My one ultimate annoyance with this book is the title: None of This is True.

It ultimately spoils the fact that Josie is lying about the exact circumstances of her life.

if it had been named differently I think the revelations of the second half would have hit a lot stronger. However, the ending was so very satisfying (ending spoiler:)

especially the final twist of Josie's final chapter where she may not be as diabolical as we were lead to believe...

 

In terms of diversity, both Alix and Josie are white cis women, married to their husbands. Everyone appears to be ambiguously white and straight, except for, some of Nathan's friends and

Josie's daughter Roxy, who is a lesbian with her dark moments.

Erin is autistic with smooth food preferences and is the gamer queen of my heart. 

I very much enjoyed this as an audiobook, with two excellent main narrators and then a full cast making up the interviewees of the inserted documentary moments. My only gripe with it was that at times in the documentary aspects the interviewer's voice was very quiet, but otherwise it was good.

Wheelhouse: narrative parallels/foils, women protagonists over 45,

unreliable narrators,

spliced in revelations in the form of interviews.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Torture, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

The dog is uninjured and fine at the end. Josie's relationship with Walter:

allegedly started dating when she was 15 he was 42, describes grooming behaviour, alleges that he is physically, emotionally and fiscally abusive towards her.

spoiler for the twist of Josie and Walter:

this is then twisted when her children allege that she was manipulative and emotionally abusive towards the whole family, including Walter, and that she may have attacked him as he died.

Josie's relationship with her children:

Erin is autistic and while Josie is mostly supportive in terms of providing her with food she likes there is an underlying current of slight abelism when it comes to Josie's views on Erin. Josie ends up fighting Erin, restraining her in her house and abandoning her for dead while stealing her money. Roxy appears to have a more fraught relationship with Josie, with allegations of child abuse and that Josie allegedly sabotaged her relationship with Brook. There is a custom made child's chair with restraints which apparently Josie used on Roxy.

Josie's final plan:

she kidnaps Alix's husband and ends up killing him, apparently accidentally.

Roxy:

final final twist spoilers: Roxy might have been the one to have killed her then girlfriend Brook.