Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom

11 reviews

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

1.0

Very preachy and unpleasant writing, a lot of mean spirited railing against straw libfems the author imagines on Instagram. The #MeToo plotline is poorly integrated and resolves in a stupid, nothing way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Excrement, and Car accident

cassie7e's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A social horror story wrapped in literary prose. I had a hard time getting through this one. It describes a world of social media and influencing that is both very real and very disconnected from any experience I've had. Makes me want to distance myself from social media even though my usage is nothing like that of the characters and followers in this book. The way posting on instagram takes over her mind and how she perceives every moment is unsettling.

I wish the book had focused more on life after the Aesthetica treatment and transitioning to look like a more "naturally aged" person, but this seems to just be the frame story from which we see flashbacks to the character getting swept up in the modeling/influencer trajectory that turns awful.

CW: drug abuse, sexual assault, cancer, loss of parent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit

toephia's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit and Car accident

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault

wichbich's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

Mom death

. This is a huge theme of the book that is not hinted at at all in the description so please proceed with caution as it could be quite triggering. I was not expecting to encounter this at all but I would say it encompasses the bulk of the story. 

This was an interesting book with an interesting idea. I would say the experience of the narrator is very specific and I don't agree with her a lot of the time. That doesn't make her wrong but her voice is often sort of grandiose as she discusses ideas of universal morals so it does feel a but like being fed a worldview. 

Overall this book feels like less of a narrative and more like a reflection on loss, trauma, and image in the midst of an attempt to realign oneself through even more trauma (and some light stalking). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Car accident

lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility and Car accident

tigger89's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is a lot in a very small package. I went into it thinking it would be more of a sci-fi medical horror title, but there was very little focus on the Aesthetica procedure itself. Rather, the focus of the story was on Anna's descent into social media addiction, body alteration and abuse. Aesthetica was an off-screen plot device, a method by which to press a magical reset button.

Something I appreciated about this title was how realistic the portrayal of social media addiction was, specifically the slide into seeing everything — no matter how personal — as something to be exploited for internet points. I've never gone for instagram, but I've experienced enough dopamine hits on other platforms to recognize the danger there. She was also spot-on when describing diet culture, particularly how it's passed inter-generationally from mother to daughter. The way this was written was chilling enough that it could be a source of horror to some, though it was a little too close to my own experiences growing up for it to land that way for me.

I don't think that I agree with what appears to be the author's message, that women can't be truly empowered when under misogynistic influences — which is all of us, everywhere, all the time. But this argument winds up removing agency from the oppressed even as it claims to protect it, as it merely replaces those harmful influences with a different set of boilerplate rules for "how to be empowered," which might not be a good fit for every individual! I think the concerns raised in this book are good to be aware of, as it certainly is a thing that happens, but there's no clear answer here with regard to what to actually do to fight this effect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Infertility

mamawantsbooks's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.75

This book should have either been heavily edited or shorter than the 256 pages it was. It felt like it tried to have two different stories but wait let’s and a third and maybe a fourth story and have no satisfying ending. It just reminded me that social media is fake and curated, that “perfect” bodies aren’t real, and you shouldn’t take your mother for granted. Or something. Disappointing read.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

marpaige's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Sexual content and Gaslighting

spaceseagull321's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Vomit, Car accident, and Death of parent