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jane_moriarty's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
brotestantethic's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
This is a book about surviving written for survivors of violence. The most gutting and realistic depiction of retaliatory anger lives in
I was not surprised to learn Tate grew up in Florida. The text reads like a conflicted love letter to her hometown. There are some truly beautiful disgusting descriptions of the Floridian landscape.
Ending will take some time to digest, for sure!
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia
madelinequinnee's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
bowelhaus's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
wykirsty's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Classism
orlagal's review against another edition
- 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
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
savannnah_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The story being written in first-person plural was really interesting. I’ve never read a book that utilizes that style, but it made the narrative more interesting to hear chunks of the plot from the POV of “we” and then swap to individual POVs set in the future. I think it really embodied the experience of being a young girl terrified of standing out in a bad way; just wanting to belong.
You should read this book if you are fascinated by girlhood, repressed memories from childhood/moments from childhood we didn’t understand at the time and are still left wondering about, & tense and slightly manipulative relationships with moms. Oh, and if you enjoyed books like Bunny and Ripe.
//
“Eddie’s torso is a miracle to us. And we don’t even believe in miracles”
“We would not be born out of sweetness. We would be born out of rage.”
“We think of our mothers when we love them the most. Which is always just after we hate them the most”
“Now I think the only way some men know how to love a woman is to humiliate her”
“People seem to see warmth in me, even when I offer none. Maybe if I was thinner, it would be easier. But it seems to me sometimes that a woman with flesh is a woman who must always be grateful. People don’t hesitate around me. I’m always being asked for favors, and causing offense when I say no.”
“Our mothers call us brutes when they want us to feel bad. It is what they call men they do not like, like our dads”
“We felt foul and fatherly and afraid of ourselves. We tried to make ourselves small. We were coiled up, but we were not broken. And we knew our mothers’ idea of goodness was not measured by morals, but by how much noise we made. And we quickly grew tired of trying to be good in their way.”
“Leaving was glorious until I realized there was no one left to talk to about it”
“He looks like someone returning for a dinner they will not have to clean up”
Graphic: Bullying, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
geophony's review against another edition
4.0
I think I like the confusion/surreality. It's the sort of book where I think I'd get a lot out of a re-read. I should have checked the content warnings before reading but that's on me!
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide and Pregnancy