Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Penance by Eliza Clark

9 reviews

alexander26's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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ribbenkast's review against another edition

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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! 

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.5


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sstento's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0


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sophie______a's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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elenakperez's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-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

5.0

As someone who was a young girl on Tumblr in 2012 and in middle/high school in the 2010s, much of this book is familiar to me because of the online spaces I was tangential to at those times. Also, as a person who consumed true crime via podcasts and documentaries recently, this book has changed the way I consume true crime. This book has been eye-opening and really made me reflect on my own consumption of true crime as well as how our society engages with what is now an industry that profits off of retelling the oftentimes unsanctioned stories of peoples' real and very personal tragedies. I would recommend this book to everyone I know.

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taliakdean's review against another edition

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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


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braggsy's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-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

4.5


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icarusandthesun's review

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

4.0

eliza clark is a bloody genius.
even though i'm not into true crime, not in the slightest actually, she was able to draw me in completely. this was a disturbing read, but also so much fun. from relatable sims 4 references to badly written school shooter fanfic, this had everything to properly entertain you.
 
it explored the depths of the internet and school life from the perspectives of a couple of very different people from very different backgrounds.
it was perfect. (but perhaps i'm also just a little biased because most of the references in this book just made so much sense to me as someone who used to spend - and still does - way too much time on the internet). an incredible read.

literally the only thing i didn't quite enjoy was the length and extensity. there were lots of chapters about the history of crow-on-sea and it was necessary, of course, and didn't feel like it was irrelevant at all, but personally, i just found that a little boring.

also, as i've mentioned before, i'm not really into true crime, so this was already a little bit of meh-territory you know.

but f- it, i still had a blast.

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