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r_o_s_e's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Blood, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
bellebeaumont95's review against another edition
- 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
This was sort of a brutal read. I both recognized myself in Lucy and felt repelled by her, often simultaneously. It's very much a deep dive into neurosis, a little addictive, with interesting, tiring, funny, disgusting, moving writing spread throughout. Mostly I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, since it's always tragic when depression has a death toll.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Car accident
roraisabella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
missbreathing's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
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“The Pisces” follows Lucy, who spends the summer in Venice Beach to recover from her recent breakup and work on her doctoral thesis. In the process, she falls in love with a merman.
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The blend of realism and fantasy was so well done that it almost hurt my head to follow. Honestly, the merman stuff is done really really well.
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I was definitely warned about the merman + human sex, but, oddly enough, that wasn’t what disturbed me? The sex was definitely explicit and at times uncomfortable, so do keep that in mind! But it was actually being inside the MC’s head that weirded me out. It could be very triggering, sometimes cringey, but mostly just dark and oppressive.
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In the beginning, I thought this would be one of my favorite reads of the year. The prose is smart and funny and peppered with subtle hints of feminism. The writing is stunning! I also really liked the ending. But there was a point about halfway through where I just wanted it to end. It’s slow paced, and while I understand the stylistic choice, I think the story would have benefitted from less meandering.
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I’m glad I read this, but I wish I had known how sad it was going to be. Please check the trigger warnings for this one, as there are a LOT of potentially triggering things in it.
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Self harm, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident and Abortion