Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Perfect Nanny: A Novel by Leïla Slimani

4 reviews

schorlett's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Child death, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Classism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, and Alcoholism

lovestoriesforsuckers's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

my dumbass thought this would be like such a fun age. it was so freaky and well written. i kind of wish i hadn’t read it. but i finished it in less than 24 hours so i guess it’s not boring at least. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Racism, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

untitledlullaby's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 I have no qualms with the book. The writing was fine the characters were complicated (which I enjoy) nothing much really happens. I wish I knew what happened to the parents afterward or what happens at the trial and what sentence she got (or if she even woke up) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion

laurenleigh's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Picked this up for a reading challenge as a thriller written by a woman, in translation. The original was in French, and there seems to be a few different titles for different publications, so I’ve also seen it as Lullaby. Thriller is probably the best genre definition, but the plot is relatively slow and the big denouement happens “off stage.” I kept waiting for some big reveal, some plot twist that explains this murderous climax, which you’re aware of from page one. The first line is “The baby is dead.” But there were no jump scares, no shocking turn of events that explained why a nanny would snap like this. It was a lot more real for this reason, and I’ve just learned that this was based on a true story. Yikes. There were certainly creepy parts (woah that scene with the chicken bones in the kitchen), but overall, it was more an exploration of class politics, sexism, and privilege. Having a rough backstory doesn’t excuse murdering children obviously, but it was telling to see the careful arrangement of injustice, assault, poverty which lead to the nanny’s violence. The tense feel throughout the book is coming from the nanny’s unraveling, which was well executed, but in the end, I don’t see this story sticking with me for a long time. It just never quite clicked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, and Sexism