Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Animal by Lisa Taddeo

28 reviews

lily_kruse's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

3.25


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sakisreads's review against another edition

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

2.0

Someone wrote ‘trauma dump’ in their review and honestly I felt that 😂 

Most of the time, I was cross with Joan and her lack of accountability or lack of energy for well, anything? She just felt so blasé and it was frustrating to read, although I think that’s the whole point of her character.
I also get why she would’ve felt the need to try and justify every single one of her actions though…

This one definitely needs content warnings which I’ll include below.

Only 2 out of 5 stars for me this time unfortunately 😫 It was hard to put down at times but also hard to get through, because nobody was in a good place and it felt like there was a need to glamourise that 🥲

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marinalikeaboatyard's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A difficult but incredibly engrossing read. Taddeo brilliantly shows the generational trauma that women experience and the difficulty of breaking that cycle. The characters are incredibly complex and more anti-hero-esque than anything, but you still root for the main character. 

I’ve noticed this trend lately of so many authors using the structure of switching between past and present until it all catches up, and I wasn’t sure I could do it again. I will say, that structure - imho - doesn’t *always* serve the novel well, as it kind of holds up the plot at points in favor of exposition. I think maybe it should just have been better spaced out or cut down a bit. HOWEVER, in the second half, it really accelerates and you absolutely can’t wait to find out what exactly happened and how it’s going to play out. There’s a bit of ambiguity in the end, but you ultimately feel that the cycle has been broken in some way, and that the main character has made peace with past and is ready to begin again. 

Major content trigger warnings - some very challenging passages that some readers may find triggering. 

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n0e11e0000's review against another edition

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

4.0


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sipsandflicks's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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


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lilacwhisker's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

Eh. I liked the ending the most but other than that it was mostly boring and hard to keep track of. All the characters were pretty much the same person and I didn’t really feel like I was there (I get that’s it’s like a letter but still). 

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ramreadsagain's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Horrendous and yet so fucking relatable. Every other page had an amazing quote about female rage and how shit men are. I loved it. The main character is both enviable and pitiable and I loved her. 

Check the trigger warnings jfc

The message of men and their privilege obliviously destroying the lives of countless women around them, absolutely incredible. 

I was however hoping for more pay-off at the end and was expecting a killing spree to be honest. But overall I found this book satisfying and frustrating and so so true.

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emmague89's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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


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missbrookss's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

2.0


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raphynette's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75


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