Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Animal by Lisa Taddeo

148 reviews

bookishpip's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.0

After reading Three Women, Taddeo became an auto-buy author for me. It was a book so powerfully written that I was convinced that I would adore everything she writes. Sadly, I didn’t love this book, and am struggling to articulate exactly why that is.

Animal was an interesting and visceral novel; a gritty exploration of female trauma and rage. On paper, it’s the sort of thing that I would be hooked by. Unfortunately, I found this to be so fragmented that I kept losing the narrative thread. I suspect that this may be the aim, but half of the time I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. Perhaps this wasn’t helped by the fact that I read this as an audiobook; jumps between past and present with no warning, that may have been better signposted in a physical book, made for a disorienting and disjointed read that was quite confusing. 

I do adore Taddeo’s unflinching attitude towards taboo and intimate subject matter, and the fallout of trauma, but overall I found this novel to be a bit heavy-handed and confusing. 

I think, if the premise appeals to you, this is one that you need to read and judge for yourself as it’s very much divided opinions!

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helenus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.0

 《 nunca sabemos cuánto pueden empeorar las cosas. ese es el mayor regalo que tenemos en la vida.

devastadora, cruel y espeluznante. esta es una dolorosa representación de lo cruda que llega a ser la vida real y el mundo en el que nos encontramos, vagado de almas rotas que tratan de encontrar algún tipo de salvación fácil mediante recursos rápidos como lo son las relaciones superficiales [de una noche o no] y la falsa sensación de intimidad [romántica o no] que se pone en práctica con alguien que no te ve con ojos honestos, ya que en verdad no te conoce, y ni quiere.

él no es nada. solo lo que crees que falta en tu interior. te prometo que no te falta nada.

el libro no se centra en sexo por mucho que se envuelva mayoritariamente en él, sino en el proceso de un análisis psicológico profundo sobre las necesidades biológicas y los seis sentidos que los seres humanos poseemos. en vez de usar la ciencia, Taddeo lo describe de manera descabellada, con un pavor inexistente a los tabúes y colocando en primer plano aquellas experiencias comunes pero aterradoras con las que toda mujer o persona femenina puede sentirse representada; esas decisiones que te hacen sentir un horror desagradable hacia tu propia carne.

me sentí avergonzada, como si pudiera verlo todo de mí: los pensamientos turbios, la soledad, el sufrimiento y, lo más humillante, los celos mezquinos.

la táctica que la autora usa como argumento a cada punto negativo mencionado en contra de la figura masculina durante el largo de la narración es utilizar como ejemplo principal cada uno de los hombres que han sido partícipes en las diferentes fases de la vida de nuestra depravada protagonista (tal cual ella se retrata) y cómo la influencia de estos le afectará hasta el último de sus días, acompañado de una representación gráfica y una serie de conversaciones longevas basadas en situaciones muy específicas, combinando así naturalmente la teoría con la práctica. y aunque en menor cantidad, lo mismo se aplica con personajes [antagonistas] femeninos igual de relevantes catados a empeorar la decadencia de la chica.

porque a veces es mejor matar a alguien que abandonarlo.

Joan no es más que una víctima indirecta: el resultado de un sistema de apoyo fallido, provocando como causa un entorno insalubre e imposible de escapar sin heridas graves en estado crítico; obligando una adaptación maligna del ser y la perdición de un corazón puro como consiguiente al inicio de un seguido de tragedias sin fin. 

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buecherballern's review against another edition

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

3.75


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meglee7's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

Fairly vulgar descriptions and touches on heavy themes. I loved Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women but this felt unsatisfying. Start was slow and doesn’t really get interesting until about 60% through and even after finishing I’m not entirely sure what the plot was as story seemed to get lost throughout 

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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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thecirclek's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

This book is a harrowing read with a lot of disturbing topics and situations. The main character is definitely a lot to handle. I really went back and forth on how I felt about her and the book as a whole almost the entire time that I was reading it. Ultimately, I quite liked it. It's not an easy read, but within the world that it creates it is satisfying. I would strongly recommend checking out the list of content items before reading. I was not entirely ready for a few of the things I encountered.

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karanextweek's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

3.25

I hated this book. I hated everything about it. Every single character annoyed the shit out of me. I hated the way it was written, even though my visceral hate from literally page 1 is proof that the writing is good.
Pretty much every type of SA/r*pe is covered in this book. It was a lot. I hated it. Am I mad I read it? Kinda. But I don’t regret it. Maybe I do.

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tleb88's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.0


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jmcampbell57's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

3.75


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keirastopher_24's review against another edition

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challenging dark

3.0


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