Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Godshot by Chelsea Bieker

3 reviews

apriless's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I only wanted to read this because I am from the area where the author set this story and grew up adjacent to before becoming involved in familiar religious circles.

Themes around true believers, gifts/acts of the spirit, girlhood, puberty, sexuality and assignments for women around long-suffering hit the hardest. The god glitter was a fun mention. There's this way that Lacey May does/does not engage the world that felt super familiar. She at once wants to feel chosen by those around her yet also "wanted a different world. One that did not exist." She is, afterall, a young girl, and I do not believe in any judgment against her for simply surviving. Sometimes you survive by seeking affirmations. Sometimes you survive by dreaming of new worlds. And sometimes too, you survive by making friends with the witchy, gothy women who lean into having been cast out from the beginning. I probably related too hard to be objective about anything, but I welcome this story in my own after-life where I try to make sense of my childhood from far away.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

lycheejelly's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

rileyharrell's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

2.5

 WARN SOMEONE NEXT TIME...

Okay I did not NOT like this book, but I did not LIKE this book either. I am unsure about my feelings for this book. This story contains so many trigger warnings that I feel like it isn't the best forum here on Goodreads to even list them all. Anyways this has such a unique writing style that it took me a minute to get into. However, once I did, it went pretty smoothly. Some of the characters were hard to read and follow, so not really sure where their story went. I didn't feel that it was very character-driven or developed, and I felt that it wasn't necessarily plot-driven either? All of the characters, including Lacey May felt really underdeveloped and this book didn't really give them any room to grow. You could tell Bieker really wanted them to grown and definitely gave them an opportunity to do so, but it fell short in the writing of developed characters for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment