Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

30 reviews

anj's review against another edition

emotional sad tense

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Lesbophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Murder and Rape

bruhbruh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Anxious book that deals brilliantly with queerphobia, despair and hope. Complex characters, very well written espacially Rukhsana who is really strong and inspiring. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Outing, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Rape, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, and Xenophobia

lilylovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Lesbophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Biphobia, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Misogyny

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, and Child abuse

rupanjali's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexism, and Sexual violence

pey333's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, and Racism

redphonebooth3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.5

I loved this book, but even though it made me cry I couldn't give it five stars because of the end. <Spoiler> As much as I loved this, I thought after everything that happened in Dhaka, Rukhsana forgave her parents too easily. I feel like I needed more time for them to really make up for the fact that they basically abused their daughter. Not to mention all the emotional stress they put her under and all the unfair treatment compared to her brother over the years. . Would deff recommend, though. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry

Minor: Xenophobia, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Death

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism

halfi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Sexism

kp_writ's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

If you are looking at reviews before deciding to read: PLEASE for the love of god read the content warnings. It's rough. And because drugging and conversion therapy aren't included in Storygraph's list of content warnings, be prepared for those too.

I'll likely have to return to this review after I've digested some more, because dear god does this book give you a lot to digest. It was an easy read in that the writing style was good (if somewhat dialogue and narration-heavy) and each scene was quick and jumped straight into the next (a literal page-turner), but it was so beyond challenging in that the content was super dark. Thankfully this story never lets a plot point go without resolving it near immediately - one of the reasons it was such a page-turner, truly, but that was something that annoyed me quite a bit because it disrupted the tension and anticipation - but it really dragged on when we hit the darkest part of the story. I don't think I'm entirely satisfied with the ending since it feels so unrealistic. It felt as though the author was trying to shove a happy ending in there, but this book felt like it needed a bittersweet ending instead. There was one specific plot point that felt like it only existed for the shock factor, and it never really resolved. One of my biggest gripes with this book is that I kind of hated Rukhsana's Seattle friends and girlfriend. They were supposed to be the anchor point for her, especially during the darkest times, but they fell really flat as characters and as friends. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Hate crime, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexism