Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

138 reviews

crpettit's review against another edition

Absolutely disgusted with how sexualized the 13 year old girls are. It's not like the narrator consistently speaks against this sexualization, she even takes part in it, when she speaks of her 13 year old sister's body, calling it perfect. There are times this is basically child porn. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Infertility, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

lenadesouza's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

22 content warnings.
I've read it all in three days. 
I love my existence!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Death, Sexual violence, Child death, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault

jdcorley's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

It's an accident of history that this grody, grimy, lurid exploitation book materialized at a time when film and TV was going through a self-imposed stylistic minimization. This kind of book needs a De Palma adaptation circa 1983, where the emotions grow and corruption is in every corner until finally the agonizing endings cascade insanity in escalating wildness, then drops the curtain in a couple hundred words of a curtsey to the audience. Plenty of "troubled lady with modern haircut returns to small home town with secrets" books before and after this one , but this one relentlessly, wildly, screams in your ear that she shouldn't have done that. It's frankly great, a bravura debut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual violence, and Self harm

ciaranolio's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

A psychological crime thriller about small towns, cycles of abuse, and possibly some of the creepiest family dynamics I've ever read about. Written in a style that took me a while to get into but is widely praised as one of the book's strongest points, I wasn't sure how I felt about this book until about three quarters of the way through. At that point, however, I was absolutely taken by it. Adored the ending, especially a masterful plot twist in the last few pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Self harm, Child abuse, Vomit, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Bullying, and Addiction

Minor: Homophobia

januaryghosts's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual violence, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty and Suicidal thoughts

csalloway's review

dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Torture

booksletusescape's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Child death

Moderate: Sexual violence

lorie266's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug use and Death

Minor: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Lesbophobia

whimsicalish's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

Unfortunately, I watched the HBO show before I read this book. I did enjoy reading it, even though I knew the big twists. The book does have the better ending (imho).

This book deals with many major dark themes, namely: child death, child abuse, mental illnesses, self-harm, violence towards girls, and sexualizing of young girls. We have situations where young girls and tweens are preyed upon. That is fine to discuss; this sadly happens in real life. Nothing wrong having conversations about that.

But I do not like the constant sexual descriptions of these young girls. The main character is the sister of one of those girls. She describes her sister (and other young tweens) in detail about their bodies. It's disgusting and wholly unnecessary. Multiple times this grown woman is pointing out how attractive these girls look and bringing up sex. It's awful!

Here's examples of some descriptions:
 

 

Spoiler

Her flushed face had the roundness of a girl barely in her teen and her hair was parted in ribbons, but her breasts, which she aimed proudly outward, were those of a  grown woman. A lucky grown woman.

But the piggy middle child, who now waddled dazedly into the room, was destined for needy sex and snack-cake bingeing.

All those milk-fed, hog-fed, beef-fed early years. All those extra hormones we put into our livestock. We'll be seeing toddlers with tits before long.

I pulled her nightgown over her head. Her nakedness was stunning... the slightest down in a wilted thatch between her legs. Full voluptuous breasts. Thirteen.
 

This could have been written better, but the over-sexualization of girls is too much to overlook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Body shaming, Bullying, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

thebeechbabe's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence