Reviews with content warning for Violence - Tampa

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

37 reviews

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

No plot. I feel like the entire book was just written for shock value. But I will give props to the author, the main character was a psycho and you could really get in her head through the narration.

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readwithleigh's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

3.25

easily one of the most disturbing, absolutely disgusting books i've ever read. i was shocked by how brazenly honest it was. it truly felt like i was in the mind of a pedophile and like any normal person, i hated it, and yet i kept reading because Nutting is such a compelling writer. i'll definitely be feeling very weird for days to come after this one, yeesh.

Content Warnings

windermerepeak1's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-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

2.25

Major additional content warning for hebephilia specifically.

Horrifyingly disturbing and graphic to say the least. The writing style isn’t bad, but the graphic sex scenes between an adult and minor are defintiely a lot and I can’t even blame this book for being banned in multiple places. It’s a tough listen/read especially from the POV of someone who is undoubtedly not redeemable

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mirandahopeshea's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny tense fast-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

5.0

WTF did I just read? I laughed out loud several times, marvelled at the brilliant writing, had an actual nightmare halfway through the book, felt physically ill, and thusly will be giving it five stars. Tampa makes you want to rip your hair out and actually FEEL disgust, not at the storytelling (like so many books I have read), but at the story itself. The difference between Tampa, and other books in the same vein about abuse (Colleen Hoover…*cough cough*), is that something like this is is that it’s not glamorising anything. Tampa is satirical and critical in the same go. It doesn’t pretend that the subject matter is aspirational, okay, or in any way good. It is pure horror, and is labeled as such.
Some art is supposed to be difficult and nauseating. It makes us think about the darkness in the world in a deeply meaningful way. You don’t have to read this book. In fact, I don’t think many people will be equipped to, and should not, but that doesn’t mean this book is “bad” or shouldn’t exist.
I read somewhere once that “The sterilisation of reality is a detriment to all who exist within it.” Fiction helps us practice empathy and helps us face the scary, big-bad real world. Art shouldn’t be sanitised because it makes you uncomfortable.

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atepper's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

inlaraland's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I listened to the audiobook version of "Tampa", and this novel is not an easy one to digest. The author managed to convey the same level of horror that I felt when reading "Lolita" and "My Dark Vanessa" - but the ending of this work was haunting for an entirely different reason. This novel heavily focuses on the grooming, corruption and exploitation of minors and I would strongly suggest reading all content and trigger warnings before picking it up.

The story follows Celeste, a beautiful young woman who is secretly a hebephile. Celeste pursues a career as a middle school teacher to gain access to young boys who she would like to pursue a relationship with. The entire story is told through Celeste's point of view, and you are trapped inside her twisted mind and thoughts. She has a hard time keeping up with "normal" appearances the more she indulges in her sick fantasies, and the story unravels into deep chaos.

This is probably one of the hardest, stomach churning books that I have ever listened to. What is even more horrific is the dismissive reactions around Celeste's behavior just because she's a conventionally attractive woman. The harsh truth about her dangerous behavior is somehow always masked. It made my skin crawl at times, and there were moments where I actually had to stop listening because I just couldn't go on.

Like I said, it isn't an easy read but the message that evil cannot be masked by a pretty face is strongly conveyed.

Content Warnings