Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

A Criada by Freida McFadden

80 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I loved this way more than I want to admit. It was as twisted as Flowers in the Attic and as delicious as the most decadent chocolate cake. I thought I was going to hate it as the story unfolded, but the second twist immediately undid my reservations. I thought it was going to be a story of the princess waiting to be rescued by the prince. I was extremely wrong and oh so happy to be wrong. And I realize that I love this book because I harbor a modicum of internalized, impotent, simmering rage for all the women who’ve been in Nina and Millie’s positions, myself included (though certainly to a much, much lesser degree). I have a feeling lot of us women identify with these characters more than we want to think about. I’ve read several books by Freida McFadden, and this one is my favorite. I really looking forward to the next one in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tourmalinequeen's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.25

I read it for book club and I both did and didn't enjoy it. Not my genre but I'm sure it's something that others will enjoy.
The characters serve the plot not the other way around, and the plot surrounds an abusive relationship. It begins with gaslighting and develops quickly to confinement and psychological abuse. If it weren't for the book club I would not have read it. None of the characters are likeable and backstory gets info dumped in awkward expository segments rather than serving the characters or allowing them to develop. Plot is very fast paced and can be enjoyable at times but the unlikeable characters mean I didn't want anyone to succeed in the narrative, there was no sympathetic character even the ones surviving abuse did not come across as sympathetic. It reads like the author wanted it to be a movie or tv show rather than a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

hailiejo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder

emma_allgeie's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism

haileyeg_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

orlaelan's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bookclubwithpookie's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.25

I honestly didn't like this book 😭 The writing was definitely YA coded, but the content was not. The writing was pretty predictable and I was disappointed with the plot twist.

I didn't understand why they had Nina sleeping with Enzo immediately following the abusive relationship. Why was Cece all of a sudden not a spoiled brat at the end? To me, the ending seemed so cheap too, with her now being 'the housekeeper that kills abusive husbands' idk maybe I'm just picky but

I honestly heard such good things about this book so I went in with really high hopes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse and Torture

milly33's review against another edition

dark medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Infertility

ellavlind's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Asså jävlar. De hände saker hela tiden och man ville alltid läsa mer och när man trodde man visste nått så visade det sig att man inte alls gjorde det. Först trodde man de va Nina som va ”den onda” men sen fick man ju reda på att det var Andrew hela tiden och Nina som blivit plågad och planerat att Millie skulle döda Andrew vilket hon ju gjorde. Millies backstory va ju bra och passande och värre än vad man trodde hahahah. Men i slutet blev de ju klart att Evelyn (hans mamma) va den som startade allt även om de inte är en ursäkt för vad Andrew gjorde mot både Nina och Millie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent

louhide's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Murder