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A review by madelinequinnee
Playground by Aron Beauregard
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
Not sure how I feel about this book.
I’ve rated it 4 because as someone who loves horror but is also extremely desensitised to it, this did have a big effect on me and left me disgusted and horrified. However, the writing wasn’t great, and i think the whole character of Geraldine was written in a sexist light. For example, her ‘villian origin story’ is that she can’t have kids, like that’s the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to a woman? Also, the way female genitalia was written was highly misogynistic at times, like how it was described as dirty if not washed with SOAP, which is incredibly dangerous btw since you should NEVER EVER put soap down there!!! I don’t know whether the author is just uneducated about the female body or is misogynistic, but either way, very weird choice.
The deaths were incredibly tragic and disgusting. Sadie’s demise affected me the most, I had to take a break from reading and go touch some grass after that scene because YIKES!
I don’t know whether i would necessarily recommend this book, since it’s very dark and gross, but if you want something that’s gonna stick with you and potentially make you feel quite ill, maybe give this a go! check trigger warnings tho please omg
I’ve rated it 4 because as someone who loves horror but is also extremely desensitised to it, this did have a big effect on me and left me disgusted and horrified. However, the writing wasn’t great, and i think the whole character of Geraldine was written in a sexist light. For example, her ‘villian origin story’ is that she can’t have kids, like that’s the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to a woman? Also, the way female genitalia was written was highly misogynistic at times, like how it was described as dirty if not washed with SOAP, which is incredibly dangerous btw since you should NEVER EVER put soap down there!!! I don’t know whether the author is just uneducated about the female body or is misogynistic, but either way, very weird choice.
The deaths were incredibly tragic and disgusting. Sadie’s demise affected me the most, I had to take a break from reading and go touch some grass after that scene because YIKES!
I don’t know whether i would necessarily recommend this book, since it’s very dark and gross, but if you want something that’s gonna stick with you and potentially make you feel quite ill, maybe give this a go! check trigger warnings tho please omg
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail