Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

81 reviews

zreadz's review

dark mysterious 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

5.0

Kukafka’s language and prose create a story that’s hard to look away from. What begins as a story about familial abuse and abandonment twists itself into a darker story. This book deals with the philosophical question: Are we inherently good or evil…or is it our choices that make us that way? In addition, it uses the idea of nature vs. nurture to make the reader question your own life and the many different versions of your life that could’ve been. This book leaves you with a feeling that’s hard to describe. These are just a few themes conveyed by this story and there are many more, but I’m glad I picked it up on a blind read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

mmmsnacks's review

dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism

riexy's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

lisettemarie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

katwritesandreads7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

2.75

...look... I wanted to love this so much. I really did. But it dragged on and the serial killer character had no redeeming qualities. Very few of the characters were loveable and I really wish the author had taken this in another direction. One of the characters gets betrayed and we never find out why and never see that character again. I was just so frustrated with the missed potential of this read. It was by no means a BAD book... It was comprehensive and had a good plot... But for me, it was missing so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

hilivingston7's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was pretty unsettling at the beginning as I waited for the shoe to drop. I appreciated that the author kept the murders off the page and really gave a non biased perspective from each character. I think the ultimate ending and build up to the execution highlight the performative nature of executions 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Murder

fbzreadswhatever's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

nclausel25's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy

mand_al_orian's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

queenofvrything's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Disturbing, thought-provoking, and sad. Danya Kukafka shows the complexity of humanity through this non-linear tale, where honestly I didn’t feel much more than sadness by the end. The themes that stuck with me begs the questions: what is evil, are the choices made by some fully their own, and if fault can ever be put on just one person?

I’ll admit, adult Ansel made my skin crawl, but a small part of me couldn’t stop thinking of the poor child in the farmhouse, and how different his life could have been. Was he born a psychopath, or did the brain damage from the doorframe cause it? I enjoyed the insight to how his brain worked, how there was indeed both good and bad in him and that he had a core lack of understanding of who he was. Ansel felt like a boat untethered throughout life, until finding the blue house. 

I do love the focus on the victims, both living and dead, and the refusal to forget them as the story progressed. I also love that there was no one way to feel. Danya made the POV characters flawed and real, without pushing a specific narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death