Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Brutes by Dizz Tate

17 reviews

jane_moriarty's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Feral Girl Summer: book edition. Do you remember the days when you ran around with a crew of kids, never anything to do, always in the way of the grown-ups and still invisible at the same time? The horizon of your neighbourhood so narrow and yet the world of the adults so mysterious? 

This book perfectly conveys the feeling of those days. It feels more like a movie (maybe a Harmony Korine one?), drifting through the setting of endless Florida summer with dark clouds gathering, seen through the collective eyes of a group of thirteen year old girls who keep a close watch on everything happening in their neighbourhood. While the girls seem to understand more about the events than the adults around them, they are at the same time cut off from forming a full picture, the way children are.

Maybe this discrepancy is the reason why it seems like the book has no plot. We are left with a hazy feeling and a vague grasp of what seems to have happened. The inbetween chapters from the girls grown-up (very depressing) perspective hardly change that. I think I would have liked less metaphors and more plot resolutions, but the descriptions of the weirdness of girlhood and the Florida Gothic Ethel Cain vibes were so so good, the writing just sucked me in. Next Dizz Tate publication will be preordered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury

boliv3's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

reads like a fever dream. dark and uncomfortable, but kind of all over the place plot wise. it’s a sad coming-of-age story though i’m not sure i fully understand what happened. everyone was unhinged. Reminded me of Earthlings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.5

The epitome of no plot just vibes. I enjoyed the prose of this book, and the setting was very appealing to someone who loves that ‘ethel cain southern gothic’ vibe, but i was confused the entire time i was reading this and i’m not sure if it was in a good or bad way? That may have been the point of the book, that girlhood and growing up is a confusing experience, so if that’s the case then i absolutely got that, but if it wasn’t then i have no idea what the point of the story was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hoestoevsky's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

judyegallagher's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

bowelhaus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

lowkey genius. i kinda wanted more and that was really the only flaw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

wykirsty's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Classism

seventhswan's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I've seen other reviewers describe this as a "no plot, just vibes" book, but I thought there was actually a very clear storyline! It was creative and nuanced, reminding me of Stewart O'Nan's Ocean State and, as was clearly intended, The Virgin Suicides. That's not to say the vibes weren't immaculate - a sort of "pretty horror" - and Tate is an extremely talented descriptive writer who made my skin crawl at times with her imagery. I thought the shared narration worked extremely well throughout, but especially in making the conclusion of the novel extremely impactful. I cried multiple times. 

This would have been the perfect book for me, ticking all the boxes - well-written, evocative, personally meaningful, distinctive characters - had it not then relied on

the existence of an actual monster

at the end... magical realism strikes again. Sex traffickers and child neglect are monstrous enough! Introducing fantastical elements cheapened these very real issues a little for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Toxic friendship

orlagal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

misssleepy's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I found this book on book tok. I added it to my tbr because it seemed really weird and slightly unsettling.

This book lived up to the hype for me. It was  mysterious throughout and definitely at times was unsettling. I loved the chapters written in first-person plural. The imagery was so fun and it really reminded me of the groups of girls I would hang out with growing up. The way they interacted in the weird and gross ways only early teenagers can understand felt really nostalgic. The ending was giving a very much Florida story. I completely devoured this book and really annoyed how clever it was.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence