Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

59 reviews

ellic23's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Solid 3.25 ⭐️ 

Giving this a rating based on it being somewhat of an entertaining read. But this was not really a thriller, I didn’t even feel suspense reading this. Definitely a overly hyped book from Tik-Toc. 

I get what the author was trying to do with the twists and the end, it just didn’t hit hard enough for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Grief and Pandemic/Epidemic

violentte's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Amazing book. Finished in 2 days and just could not put it down!
Believe it or not Josie reminded me a lot of a person my partner knew first year of uni, whom was completely insane and a compulsive liar and it was just crazy seeing the similarities. 
Jojo def shows signs either BPD or just a sociopath, and is a big danger (clearly) to those around her, displaying violent outburst, no remorse, obsession, and no empathy whatsoever. 
Starting with Walter and her relationship, the age gap is INSANE and was a MAJOR red flag. In any shape or form Walter was a groomer, however

once we learn from Pat that Jojo actively went after Walter (knowing not only was he married but also dating her mom) - this showing her as a person (like you’re one of those that ALSO steals people men😭)

She is a perfect example of an unreliable narrator and we don’t begin to see the full picture till after her family begins to speak out.
I legit cried when Nathan died, I was hoping he wouldn’t and was holding out hope that the marriage would be fixed, but again Jojo’s obsession got in the way of that. I was honestly surprised that she didn’t try stealing HIM away from his family. But after hearing her daughter explain how Walter had to sneak to speak to his kids in America it was just adding on to the long list of red flags for Jo the Roxy plot twist was to be expected, she seems to be worse then her parents/grandparents. I think a spin off book on her would be interesttinnng
I loved the writing style and I will absolutely be reading more from this author. Great little murder mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

katerina_l's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow. The creep and ick factor were so high in this book that I need to start another book right away to cleanse my brain’s palate. How else will I sleep tonight?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Great read, hooked from the start. Twisty and completely addictive. Was on the edge of my seat! 4.5 stars cause I was a little annoyed at the ending but that makes it a great book! Absolutely loved the acknowledgments at the end too! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

helxine'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was so good! I couldn't put it down. For readers looking for mysteries, murders and madness you have to pick this one. I loved it from page one to the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Dementia, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Incest, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Kidnapping

stewartj0421's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Stalking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kiwichill's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Outing

krisx's review

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

1.0

Throughout the first half of the book I was so drawn in and fully ready to give it a 5 star review, couldn't wait to see where the story would go and how it would end!
Unfortunately to my dismay, it ended in almost justifying abuse and grooming. A 16-year old cannot "seduce" a grown man and a child neglected by their mother isn't just "born evil". It feels like a bad true crime episode feeding into all of the stereotypes regarding criminals who have been abused, mistreated and are severly traumatized prior to their crimes. The last few pages left  an "open ending" so the reader could decide what to believe and to kind of create their own narrative but what kind of narrative are you expected to create when you've read few hundered pages of justified abuse story?! Incredibly disappointed in the way the story turned out, it had a lot of potential in the beginning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment