Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Hell Is a World Without You by Jason Kirk

3 reviews

emulator's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Reading this book was a breathtaking experience in so many ways. Despite my not being raised Evangelical, I have never before found something that so authentically captures identity crises, living with doubt and shame that takes years to unravel. The layers of self-loathing and self-hatred caused by disconnects deep in the soul between the teachings our social structures reinforce and what we spiritually know to be innately true. How doubt and shame bury these feelings deep enough to gnaw at our sense of self and capacity to love. How we repress it all and suffocate in increasingly desperate attempts to Be Normal.

There are also the approximately 3,705 times I laughed my head off and the representation I felt as a former Scripture And Liturgy Dork. Beautiful, powerful, overwhelming and authentic novel on every level, one which I have already re-read and then listened to the audiobook start-to-finish. I will hold this book close to my heart for as long as I live.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness and Antisemitism

jacobclark's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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

4.75

Stellar portrait of a youth group era a decade before I was a part of one. The prose is shockingly good even being chock-full of countless Christian subculture references. It runs the gamut of emotions and hits so many interesting beats that if you heard them would seem cliched — but if you read them, they feel so fleshed out and real. Every motivation of every character of every walk of life is fully realized: every character is three-dimensional. I don’t know how many people I know working in a church that would appreciate this book, but there are dozens of us and we should all read this one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Islamophobia, Abortion, Outing, Alcohol, and War

Broadly speaking, because of the subject matter and setting in an American evangelical church youth group culture in the early 2000s none of the content is very shocking on its face. If you’ve been through that setting and have past trauma this could be either a liberating or suffocating read depending on your healing process. The worst part comes toward the end of the novel with a section where a youth pastor replicates the often-told story of people with guns coming into a church to scare kids into not denying their faith.

This youth pastor uses his younger brother as an example and threatens reuniting him with their dad in hell. The gun goes off after a scuffle and doesn’t kill the younger brother but does hospitalize him with non-threatening injuries.

The main character’s father’s death in a car accident is referred to a lot as a pivotal moment in his life and it is often discussed as to whether or not it was a suicide or under the influence.

gdavis254's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

A little heavy-handed but overall excellent and very memorable 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War