Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada

20 reviews

panicpoet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

patriciamadariaga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm a bit sad because I couldn't get the Spanish version and I don't know how much is lost in translation, but the novel is gorgeous anyway. 

Through the author's voice, travestis (marginalized biological men who identify and present as women* and work in the sex trade) speak in their diversity and complexities, from a point of view that is both personal and collective, heavy with emotion but with no room for sentimentalism.

As the novel goes on, the emphasis is not only on the myriad ways in which travestis experience and resist the relentless violence from family, police, johns, and neighbors, but on how a chosen family comes together and breaks apart, the shape that care can take under impossible circumstances, and the work of shared grief as a labor of love.

*The book opens with a note about why she, a travesti, is not using the term trans women. Go ahead and read it to find out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, and Drug use

ktfytz's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

An intensely sad book. It feels like reading a dream, or someone else's dream. The narrative is jerky and confusing, switching timelines and locations but ultimately moving in a linear direction. Perhaps it reflects the disjointed reality of its protagonists. Exploring the world of trans sex workers in Cordoba, Argentina, this memoir(?) is incredibly interesting while overwhelmingly sad. I think the blasé manner in which the horrors suffered by the protagonist and her colleagues is described is what makes this book so depressing. Despite this I'm really glad I read it. 

The writing and translation were really beautiful, some favourite quotes include: 

"So we chased our johns, forced into [...] feeling that there was nothing worse than being a fairy choking on the hot world of men, where all issues are resolved with kicks and punches" (97)

"But poverty draped its cloak further and further over me" (109)

"He was a cowardly, cheap, cunning, and grabby. But give credit where credit is due: he also made chocolate-covered pancakes with dulce de leche in about two minutes and they were always perfect, it was the only manifestation of beauty of which he was capable." (172)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, and Alcohol

mielenmaisemia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use

solusipse's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

stirnbandpunk's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Child death

junglejelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I honestly don't know where to start with this book except to say it's a must read.

It is so beautifully and heartbreakingly written. The characters, including the settings, come so easily to life off the page. With so few words, Camila Sosa Villada makes you care for this chosen family (who love and fight just like a biological/traditional family).

I wish the book was longer and delved more into Camila's life from being a teenager to her 20s. I felt a few of the chapters too short and the flow of the book jarring with "flashbacks". Hence not the full 5 stars but this is personal preference.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

elinna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Una historia maravillosa que te aprieta el corazón, pero que al mismo tiempo ese amor entre penumbras y de noche te va cuidando.
Escucharlo en voz de la autora fue una experiencia maravillosa.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

fab_lettricelibera's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Transphobia, and Violence

lidia7's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Self harm, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Colonisation