Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

El Test by Sylvain Neuvel

10 reviews

sarahbythebook's review against another edition

dark

5.0

read on El's (ermreading) recommendation

Holy shit. 

This one needs time to process more, but the single most terrifying element of this novella is that I could easily see this becoming the reality of citizenship tests in the not-so-distant future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, War, and Deportation

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Colonisation and Classism

Minor: Body shaming

tey_lynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Medical content, Abortion, and Alcohol

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

A high tech, virtual reality horror

that discusses social issues such as immigration and citizenship. I went into this expecting a literal test and I was pleasantly surprised by the actual concept of this novella. It really paints a picture of what the UK could become if UKIP (or another far right, nationalist party) were to win an election in the distant future. The extreme nationalism, xenophobia and lack of human empathy was disturbing to read. The fixation on data and numbers taking priority over human safety and wellbeing is an issue we are presently dealing with as a country. To read pages upon pages of this was horrifying, nevermind experiencing it in real life and being subjected to dehumanising screenings of worthiness. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Deportation

blackcatkai's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I need to get my thoughts in order before I can properly review this one. RTC

UPDATE! i never did quite get my thoughts in order then i forgot to come back. overall, this one started strong but i didnt quite care for the middle or ending of this one. it wasnt bad, just bits here and there that threw me out of the story.

CW:  Gun violence, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Fatphobia/body shaming, grief, murder, casual ableism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Grief

Minor: Ableism

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Dementia, and Abortion

poojakunaparaju's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

i think it was super enjoyable like REALLY INTERESTING up until the end like legit till the last 2 pages after which, a shift in the main character's well, character, made me recoil sharply from the entire story even tho u can't blame him for switching up after the shit he was put through AND I MEAN SHIT. i remember being like 3/4th of the way through and thinking this would def be a 4.25ish read but when i was done it dropped down an entire star to 3.25 and i wish i could explain why but i can't, just something in my gut and also NO ONE CARES LMAO but i was really fascinated by a couple of paragraphs that went into human psychological theories which was informative while still being comprehensive to an average reader i'd say, so i was happy it taught me some pretty cool stuff without making me feel too dumb in the process LOL

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Cursing and Xenophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

juliezantopoulos's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

I am not sure I have words for this one. I love Sylvain's writing, but this was...dark. And I'm not entirely sure that it had to be in order to get the point across. I understand dystopian worlds and alternate futures, but this felt a little like torture porn, a book written purely to shock. It's not the first time a book on the morality of choosing who lives and who dies has been written...but this was a little much. 

It does a good job of packing a punch in a short novella. There's a deeper meaning and diversity of character, but I didn't love this one the way I hoped I would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Medical content

absinthe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry