Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Penance by Eliza Clark

13 reviews

rayanaj's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

** spoiler alert ** this book was shaping up to be a five star until i got to the final act- girl c. i understand that the entire point of the book is for it to about how disgusting the true crime industry really is, but i am not a true crime girlie and just found girl c's story hard to read. it made me sick. ill sleep with the light on tonight because it was that unsettling.

the ending was phenomenal though. it wasnt a huge surprise as i had already suspected it as i had been alluded to what themes this novel was exploring, but still impeccably executed regardless.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ribbenkast's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Eliza Clark's writing is unlike anything other writing I've ever read. The way she got into a fictional sleezy crime writer's head and made this sensationalized "non fiction" book from his perspective.  It's a level of writing skill not many people posses.

Something that particularly stood out to me that deserves separate praise is just how well she captured 2014 tumblr culture around true crime. It was weird and you just had to be there to see it to believe it. 

I'm looking forward to Clark's next novel coming out this year! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Death of parent

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Confinement, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Pandemic/Epidemic

erikoo's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

tallhousecookies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide

opldxblqo's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

I am exactly the demographic for this book: late 20s white woman who spent considerable time on Tumblr in the early 2010s; this book would have fallen short if not for lighting up the teenage nostalgia centers of my brain with its references to the edgy internet culture of my morbid youth (No, I wasn't ever in a serial killer fandom, but I ate up true crime and occasionally looked at "pro ana" blogs with a horrified outsider's fascination). Any reader who missed out on the absolute chum bucket that was Tumblr in the early 2010s (lucky you!) will likely be bored by large chunks of this book.
Despite its heavy reliance on niche internet nostalgia, what Clark gets right in Penance is the critical look at the culture of violence entertainment in true crime media. Penance asks readers to look inward at their rubber-necking voyeurism without scolding; asks readers to question the motives of true crime content creators, and understand that this content more often than not retraumatizes victims' families. Though this exact critique has been explored many times through fiction in the last couple of years in novels such as I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (blah), and Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (five starts!), Penance does so much more thoroughly through the use of metanarrative. The sections of prose are well written and each character feels fully fleshed and complex; a delightful surprise after Clark's disappointing first novel, Boy Parts.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

sarah984's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was fine, it captured the voices of the teens and (most of) the internet culture of the era really well, but I do think it fell into its own trap a bit in over focusing on the perpetrators without a lot of self awareness, and a few things about the internet culture of the time are inaccurate in a way that annoyed me (especially the assertion about ao3 because I think the truth actually adds to the book's point). The twist is so obvious from pretty much the beginning that the epilogue feels like a joke.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

taliakdean's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Racism, Dementia, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Outing

rachelcoconut's review against another edition

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aileron's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism