Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

9 reviews

grunbean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Before picking this up, I looked through the reviews and saw this described as a modern Salem Witch Trials. I think that’s the most fitting way to describe it.

This was a can’t put down book for me. I picked this up on a whim, and it exceeded what I thought it was going to be. Dark in a way you can’t expect, incisive when it comes to commenting on the state of our world and where it’s going, and with an unexpected humour. I would really recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

kristy_lyn's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

3.5

This book was not what I was expecting and I'm still not sure exactly how to rate it. But after closing the cover I still can't stop thinking about it so I'll settle on 3.5 stars. 

The story takes place in the not-so-distant future and follows the events that occur in one particular cul-de-sac and the lives of the families who live there. We meet up with the Wilde family at the beginning of the book and immediately get the impression they are somewhat outcast from the rest of the neighbours. As the story unfolds it begins to centre around two main families and the conflict that arises between them. I was left with an uncomfortable feeling of unease through the duration of this book as I felt it hit a little too close to our modern day world despite being set in the future. There are implications towards global warming with the forming of the sink hole, and a rather bleak look into mob mentality and the dangers that arise when frustrations and hostility begin to grow within society. Even in the small scale study that is Maple Street. I found myself turning page after page eager to see where the story was going and repeatedly found it was not where I expected. Although it was slow to start, I enjoyed the news articles scattered throughout which kept you guessing right up until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

anna_mayes's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“To avoid loneliness, we become a single, unthinking mass.”

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan is about what happens when a suburban neighborhood experiences a tragedy and goes searching for answers. During a 4th of July barbecue, Sterling Park is taken over by a sinkhole. A few days later when some of the local children are playing on the board covering the hole, Shelly Schroeder falls in. Shortly after, the neighbors start to turn on the Wilde family, believing that they are the cause of Shelly’s fall and disappearance.

This book was HEAVY. It was dark, very emotional, and had me crying at some moments. Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan had me hooked from the beginning. It has a slow-medium pace, but with short chapters and suspense, I was completely glued to the pages. The twist at the end was unexpected and my jaw was on the floor. Honestly, Sarah Langan did a great job of addressing how rumors and gossip can spiral out of control in suburban culture.

I recommend this for anyone who loves unreliable narrators and mysteries. I also would recommend this to someone who likes books that have a grey conclusion.

Content Warnings: Sexual Assault, Murder, Suicide, and Drug Abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

adventuresinpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Ableism, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit

valerie's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Xenophobia

jennivardier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

annareads9898's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

ktdakotareads's review

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

If you are bothered by child death or violence to children, I would not recommend this book.

thrillofthepage's review

dark slow-paced

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

2.25

Maple Street is a quiet and picturesque block and one that many covet, but after a sinkhole ruins the neighborhood park a chain of events are set in motion that reveal that this perfect block has a lot of darkness behind closed doors.

I was really excited about this book when I received it. Especially after seeing it compared to Little Fires Everywhere, which I loved. Good Neighbors is the very definition of slow burn and it took a third of the book to arrive at the accident described on the back cover. Typically, I am a huge fan of slow burn novels, but this one just didn't flow well. The first third felt like a lot of fluff meant to buildup to the accident, but it was too long and could have been done in a few chapters. I almost DNF at this point, but decided to stick with the story to see if it would payoff.

Unfortunately, the payoff never came and the book got really dark. As a thriller lover I can handle dark plots and storylines, but for some reason Good Neighbors felt like it went too far. I did not like any of the characters, even the kids, and none were ever redeemed. This made it hard to connect to the story and feel any sort of emotion on behalf of the characters. We witness the very worst of human nature and the envelope was pushed too far.

I think I know what the author was going for, but it just didn’t work for me. This could very well be a case of “not the right reader” and others might enjoy the in depth character development and study of the neighborhood hierarchy.

TW: child abuse, child depth, allegations of rape, drug use/abuse, addiction, mental illness

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for my advanced copy.  All opinions are my own.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Excrement