Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Penance by Eliza Clark

56 reviews

shrikesong's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming

tctimlin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

I may have to sit with this book for a while.  The Irish bookseller in Foyles in London convinced my friend and I to buy this book.  I started it on the plane, then put it down for a while.  At points, I was feeling less than enthusiastic about the story - but I realized at the end that I had been missing the point.  Written as a “true crime” deep dive into the torture and murder of a teenage girl by three of her classmates (also girls), this journalist narrator presents his story using podcasts, social media posts, interviews with friends and family of the victim and the perpetrators.  He claims to be writing the “definitive” account of the murder -the one that will explain the why behind this horrific crime.  But is that really what he’s doing?  And who is true crime written for?  Who does it benefit?  Whose appetites does it satiate?  An exploration into society’s fascination with crime, especially the most unimaginable crimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

semjl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. As someone who was a big tumblr user in my teens (although not in the way these girls use it) I found it quite nostalgic. Also the complex relationships of teenage girls with a mixture of nice upbringings and loving homes vs without.

Felt a bit confused at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

plstr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Racism

hanard's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Body shaming, Torture, and Murder

readingoverbreathing's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Racism

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.

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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

beancamille's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

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! 

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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

victorcrictor's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A great read. At first I thought this was non fiction like a fucking idiot, i guess that is a testament of the quality of Clarks writing.

A very meta book in the sesnse that it is about itself and its fictional author rather than what it actually is about.

A very good take on bad books, bad journalism and ethics

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence