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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
1.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Cancer, Suicide, and Terminal illness
bashsbooks'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? No
0.25
My biggest issues with Haunting Adeline are as follows:
1) Its writing style is bad. This author cannot write for shit. This book is extremely vague and noncommittal in its descriptions, frustratingly unwilling to give much specific information about the world, and unbelievably cringe-worthy in its dialogue.
2) It promotes a pretty fucked up view of gender - the world of Haunting Adeline implies that even the best of men are predators and even the most strong-willed of women are victims/prey. I could go on about this point with a few dozen examples, but I will boil it down to the most galling one: at one point, there are two victims of human trafficking being discussed - one an adult woman described as a "twenty-four year old girl" and one a child, a little boy. And there is more time and focus put on how this poor "girl" than the actual child. It goes without saying that it's normal to feel for any victims of trafficking, but I find it suspicious that in a book that pulls out pedophilia and child abuse as an excuse for every other crime committed, more focus is given to the female victim, who is an adult, than the literal child - and of course, she's infantilized.
3) Putting a warning that says "this isn't antisemitic" at the beginning of a book is not sufficient. You have to actually not perpetuate antisemitic propaganda in the book. Saying "oh I just like conspiracy theories and it's just my twisted mind" and then vomitting the contents of right-wing Facebook memes onto the page is an act of both idiocy and hubris. God, the ego on this Carlton.
There is a lot more I could gripe about - like how the male lead Z justifies his murders in the most annoying and unconvincing ways or how the titular Adeline just takes him at his word about everything despite him stalking and raping her or the super pervasive ableism or the absolutely weaksauce attempt at class analysis or how this is absolutely catnip for white women who believe they're going to be kidnapped at Target - but I'll just save us both some time and sanity and tell you not to bother with this dumpster fire of a book. If you're looking for a dark bit of smut, just pull up AO3.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Racism and Torture
Minor: Death of parent
a_libra_library's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
lolalastname's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
To paraphrase Tyra Banks “It’s so bad I want to give you a zero. But that’s not possible, so I give you a 0.25.”
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Vomit
nestasnumberone's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Ableism