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alexandra__rae's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
raebeiss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Mass/school shootings
saskiacb's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
jmcampbell57's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
emilyb99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Serving traction alopecia realness.'
This book was absolutely terrible. Did you kill the editor?? Is this actually true crime??? I kept moaning to my friend that it wasn’t over. I spilled wine on it too and I didn’t even care.
It’s like if Skins had a murder plot in it. Or if you enjoyed Bunny by Mona Awad you’ll like this book. But that’s about it. If you like mean girls who kill another girl then this is your tea party.
Prepare yourself for going down rabbit holes that don’t even allign with the storyline anymore. For example: someone’s immigrant aunty’s Indian takeaway and their school experience in Crown-On-Sea. Like does this shit matter? I asked myself this and the answer was no, this is nowhere near the plot. Like at all. So random and frustrating, can we please stop rambling? I was very disappointed and thought this book was going to be a lot better than it was, I didn’t think it was going to be some random jealous girl who kills the girl who talks to her girlfriend. It was also as if the author downloaded tumblr and used it for a week in order to get some lingo, find out what “shipping” was, and how the ask box worked. As someone who was THERE for fanfic tumblr in 2014, it was so yucky.
She literally put an entire chapter of gay school shooter fanfiction. I understand maybe it was to be like ‘ahhh Dolly is sooo fucked up!!!’ but I was reading it starting to wonder if the author published this book just so she could put her fanfiction of school shooters out there. Really odd that she writes in the style of a creepy middle aged man, I’m also pretty sure she made no descriptions of any of these girls, so many names thrown all over the place and then you had to remember their other names. I couldn’t picture a single one of them, as well as “oh that … was that one?” “Which girl did this?”.
I’m confused with the people who actually liked this book.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
coffeecass's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
semjl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Felt a bit confused at the end.
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
kfergy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Vomit, and Kidnapping
gilroi's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
It's deftly written while always having incredibly clear prose that is neither 'invisible' or bland-- every word is chosen thoughtfully, even if the vocabulary and sentence structure is often simplistic. It reminds me of my favorite Palahniuks and Pat Barkers: a book that never talks down to its readers, trusting them to understand the complexity of thought found in its straight forward (and occasionally blunt) packaging.
And the messages this book sends are very complex and well thought out: is it possible to cover true crime in a moral way? What type of people bully and what type people are bullied? What's the cost of not 'fitting in' as a child? How does the internet warp young minds? What kind of person is a 'good' victim? Are 'good' victims real, or an invention of narrative convenience? Can children's play and imagination build up to murder? What kind of child is capable of murder, and is that capability innate, or does it grow over time? When does bullying become criminal? What amount of bullying is acceptable or 'normal'? And, perhaps most importantly, the question the book tackles in its final section with one of the most richly layered and consequential plot twists I've ever seen:
Even if they're not doing it in prose, everyone is forming a narrative in their heads. No one in these forums and blogs and chatrooms and social media accounts was an actual witness to the events they're compelled to discuss. Is all of that just a different kind of fanfiction? And if it is, who has the moral high ground? Who is engaging in these topics in a respectful way?
Is anyone?
Is the only way to answer these questions in a way that's respectful to the victim, this book seems to say, is to just write fiction. So Eliza Clark did, and I think it's one of the most engaging, creative, layered and thoughtful books I've ever read.
...At least, I think so. I don't know much about true crime, but Eliza Clark clearly does.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Sexual assault
evawondergem's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Classism