Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon

11 reviews

coldheartedbirch's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

absolutely loved this!!

thought to myself when i saw it on the shelf “alright but the DNA tests though……” but i figured it’d be interesting to read and learn about anna anderson and i’m so glad i did! 

while a lot of people probably wouldn’t like the non-chronological arrangement, i personally loved it! the tension as the beginning and end of the story worked towards their mutual conclusion made it impossible to put the book down. 

you really get swept up and even knowing how things work out in history doesn’t stop you from wanting to know how the book works out, even as half of the story unfolds in reverse. 

lawhon does an incredible job at conveying the mental anguish caused by the trauma over time to all of the characters involved, but especially so for anna/anastasia. lawhon’s characterization is such a mentally strong, intelligent, indignant, and Sharp woman! was captivated the entire read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Rape and Antisemitism

there's not a tag for this but also: forced adoption.

temperamentalprotagonist's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

finnc's review

It was far too graphic for what I was looking for when I started it. I hoped to finish it but couldn’t appreciate the plot beyond the gore. It was well written and you really understood the characters, which was part of why the violence was hard to read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: War

bluebell4's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

Broke my heart a million times over 💔

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

librarianeno's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book. It's not something that I knew very much about. However, I really struggled listening to this book because it's a non-linear narrative, and the time hops sometimes got confusing. It would have been nice to be able to go back and reference where we had been. And while it's not really a spoiler on how this ends, I do have to admit that the ending was still surprising to me.  Please make sure to check the content warnings.

Most of the worst of it happens in the last few chapters. That's the main reason why this book can't have 5 stars. It's very graphic (in my opinion).

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

most of the really graphic stuff happens in the second half of the book as it gets closer to the part where they get taken to be killed. Honestly, the rest of the book wasn't that bad, but the last few chapters were super graphic

1721egp's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

Warning: Some spoilers may be concluded if you are not already familiar with the history and discussion surrounding Anastasia Romanov and Anna Anderson.

Start to finish, I was ENTHRALLED. I stumbled upon this title in the "suggestions" of Audible and decided to give it a try. I actually initially thought it was a biography comparing Anastasia Romanov and Anna Anderson until a few chapters in.

I realized what Ms. Lawhon was doing with the timelines about halfway through, and truly, this IS the best way to tell this story.

She nailed it - you hold out hope until the last few pages, just as Anna Anderson's supporters did. Like them, you don't know what to believe, even if you're familiar with the legend of Anastasia. Only this style could have given us such an experience. Ms. Lawhon tells the stories of these two lives in such a way that is unbiased until the end, allowing you to draw your own conclusions.

Every little detail circles back around. The things you don't think matter end up being key pieces. In fact, I need to read it again just to see what l missed the first time around.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

lnel's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and War

tnociti's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War

storyteller5678's review

informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

rynicolereads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

I went into this book not knowing much about Anastasia or the rest of the Romanov family and ended up completely lost in their story. Is Anna Anderson really Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov? Lawhon tackles this notion through two narratives in different timelines — Anna's in reverse and Anastasias advancing forward. Although I found the structure to be confusing in the beginning, once I wrapped my head around it I really enjoyed the way the converging storylines built suspense.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault