Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Don't Let Her Stay

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Don't Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders

25 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

1.5

As a disclaimer, I probably would’ve DNFed this book if I hadn’t been reading it for a book club. It really wasn’t for me.
The characters were insufferable, and every move being made by the author was very transparent.

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capriqueen's review against another edition

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mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

A very good thriller, had me very stressed out especially because of all the gaslighting. I wanted to shake Jo at times because she just believed whoever told her anything and didn’t really think critically, but also I sympathize because I think I would be like that too in this situation

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pernillelsk's review against another edition

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slow-paced

1.0

I almost never rate a book only 1 stars or below, but there was just no way that I could rate "Don't Let Her Stay" any higher.

I listened to the audio book of this. The writing itself was fine, and so was the narration, but unfortunately, none of that helped salvage it.

The story was terribly boring and ridiculous. I didn't like any of the characters. All of them were almost nothing but comical caricatures. They were either unbelievably dumb, naïve, and apologetic idiots, or righteous, gaslighting assholes. The only likeable character was the dog. And perhaps sometimes the baby.

No matter how much I sped it up the pace of the audio of this book, I couldn't get properly through the story. About halfway through, I couldn't take it anymore, so I skipped a few chapters forwards every few minutes in the hopes that I would eventually get to something interesting - but the story was so slow and repetitive that I could hardly even tell that I'd skipped anything until I was close to the end. The ending was unnecessarily ridiculous and twisty, but all in all not very surprising or interesting.

Thrillers are usually my jam, and based on the description, I figured that this book would be right up my alley, but no matter what I did, I just could not get through it in the proper way. It was just too boring, too annoying, and too ridiculous. Just skip this one and go find an actually interesting thriller - there are so many out there much better than this.

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lizmcb55's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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ktreml06's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this book in one day because I simply could not put it down! From the very first page I was intrigued and on edge. The author did an amazing job of immersing you in the story— I felt the anxiety, fear and suspense that the main character felt the entire time! In the first half I felt frustrated with the characters and how predictable it was, but as the story unfolded in the second half I realized I was being tricked just the main character. Every time I thought I knew what the truth was, things got flipped upside down and I was questioning everything all over again.

This truly was a wild ride and I highly recommend you take your blood pressure meds before reading!

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herelieshenry's review against another edition

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tense 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? It's complicated

0.75

The first 75% was frustrating, but at least competent as far as a domestic thriller goes. The last 25% was however shaping up to be a very solid ending—the last scene, where there’s a second twist, however, ruined it for me.

The narrative clearly showed Richard as a manipulative, garbage husband, and I find the concept of Chloe’s motivation ridiculous; that was part of why I disliked the first 75%, but the way the ending with her grandmother nails it in is ridiculous. Overall, it makes Chloe feel like a weird misogynistic caricature. There’s also a lot of ableist sentiment throughout the book from pretty much every character. In particular, as someone who has been institutionalized and traumatized by it, the lense used to portray Chloe as having to either have been evil or falsely sent there was very stigmatizing and just kind of hurt.

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_msmarian_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Wow. WOW. WOWW.

I have no words to really describe the rollercoaster of emotions that I went through while reading this book! It's a proper mind boggler, to say the least.

While the reader may start formulating who the villain is, it's impossible to really know until the very end.

Probably one of the best paychological thrillers I've EVER read!

HIGHLY recommend this fast-paced page turner if you're interested in this genre.

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