Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Sharp Edge of Silence

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum

7 reviews

albon's review against another edition

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

«Boys will be ~~boys~~ held accountable». In the last 5% of the book. Well, at least one of them will. Kinda. The consequences aren’t massive. The rest of them will get away with it because they’re also victims of toxic masculinity and it’s actually very sad for them that they can’t break free from the horrible expecations placed on them by society (to… not uphold rape culture).

I’m probably being overly sensitive here, but this book wasn’t what I thought it would be. Maybe if it hadn’t been marketed with the «Boys will be held accountable» tagline and the part in the synopsis about the consequences of Quinn going public about being assaulted (which also doesn’t happen until the very last part of the book), I would have had more realisric expecations. It’s well written and not a bad book, but it just left me feeling a little let down

Content Warnings

rachaelthegiraffe's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

jessicasophie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

billykmaguiree's review

Go to review page

challenging dark 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

4.5

The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum had me fucking sobbing from beginning to end in a way that I would never have thought possible from a book. Although this book is centred around themes that some readers may find uncomfortable/unsettling, (rape culture and toxic masculinity), Rosenblum’s prose serves as a constant reminder that ‘boys will be held accountable,’ and will not get away with anything anymore.

We live in a changing society and Rosenblum’s narrators are no different to the ever-changing societal expectations. We have Charlotte, ‘Q’ and Max and all of these narrators have different opinions on rape culture and toxic masculinity throughout the book. Q’s role throughout the first half of the narrative is the ‘silenced victim’ who refuses to speak out despite wanting to get revenge until she meets Charlotte in the woods. These women ally themselves against toxic men at Lycroft Phelps amid fears that they two will become victims.

What I found most stunning about this, was the fact that Rosenblum managed to capture Q’s anger in such a way, that her spiralling became the spiralling of the reader. You could clearly tell that Rosenblum placed a lot of thought into the consequences of characterising Q in a way that initially turned from anger and I think that it’s most striking that the reader managed to connect with Q’s change from anger to pain to anger again. It was equally as heartbreaking when Q confided in Charlotte about the sexual assault and Charlotte immediately believed her.

Though there were a few parts that I thought were slow-paced and I genuinely believed the book was going to end with the death of Colin Pearce but it didn’t. I believe that summing up the narrative as ‘Q’s way to healing,’ is wrong because it doesn’t just allow, and shouldn’t allow for her to heal, this narrative is controlled carefully and doesn’t skip corners: Q’s revenge on Pearce is thwarted and there is a sense of resolution around the rowers’ being punished, and yet we are left hoping for Q’s journey to help her heal, alongside other women in the narrative.

A huge thank you to the team at Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

At Lycroft Phelps the male rowing team are the undoubted stars & great things are expected from them this year, so there is a bit of scramble when the cox from the first team boat is suspended. A surprising choice is Max, a scholarship science geek who never dreamt that he could get a chance to be "one of the popular boys" & date the girl he has admired from afar. Meanwhile Charlotte is trying to balance being a straight-A student, a successful ballet dancer, and girlfriend of the star rower, Seb. He is handsome & charming & this leads to Charlotte tamping down her anxiety over their relationship & his, at times, questionable behaviour. Finally Quinn, a legacy student, finds herself consumed with thoughts of revenge for something which happened the previous year.

The reader hears the story from the three narrators: Charlotte, Max, & Quinn (Q) & their stories start off as separate but gradually the events in each start to intersect with each other. This book deals with some weighty subjects & has a trigger warning in the synopsis for sexual violence but there is also the aftermath of dealing with this, plus also toxic masculinity & virulent misogyny from some of the characters. It shows how easy it can be for people who think of themselves as the "good guys" to become caught up in a group setting & let things slide that should be called out. I thought it was well-written, & the characters were all well-rounded out, none of them were one-dimensional, even the "bad guys" were shown to be human, & that is the entire point. Atrocious acts are not committed by monsters, they are committed by people like everyone else, they just feel entitled or able to get away with it, & we see here what it takes to finally take a stand against a culture that in many cases protects the wrongdoers.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Bonnier Books UK/Hot Key Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

Content Warnings

kellysrambles's review

Go to review page

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

There is no doubt that this story packs a punch. Q’s story is one that will sadly resonate with many and I thought it was extremely well written from her POV. This book tackles some difficult topics as we learn about Q being raped and see how she deals with the trauma and ultimately takes control back with the help of her friends. It’s a sad, anger inducing but hopeful and powerful story which really made me stop and think. Misogyny is brought to the forefront and there were some scenes that actually made me feel sick with how vile the Slycroft Society and their ideas are. The down side for me was that this book was quite slow. I thought the last half of the book was fantastic so I was glad I stuck with it but there were definitely moments in the first half where I considered putting it down. Overall a gut wrenching but powerful read.

Content Warnings

kazofbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

So much promise…

This books is one that I would only recommend to someone who doesn’t mind a long and drawn out story. I have heard many times that the story and anything that happens should be walking (moving the plot) and not talking (just filling space) and this story is too much talking.

The story -

Q wants to go rogue and get revenge on Colin after he stole her innocence and herself from her.

Max wants to be popular and ask Alex out but he doesn’t feel that he is good enough.

Charlotte wants to keep her relationship with Seb and make the most out of being young choreographer.

The execution -

This book is nearly 500 pages and has 17 chapters. However every chapter swaps POV multiple times and has to much filler content that is is repetitive and boring. I would say that it would be easy to cut a good 4 or 5 chapters and about 150 pages of just filler content.

Max and Charlotte’s POV is redundant until the last 40% of the book and makes it very difficult to get through. As you spend so much time not with Q is it hard to sympathise with her until she really breaks down and shares her story with someone.

My thoughts -

I wanted to DNF this and honestly had to keep fighting myself to make it through because I felt that it was an important enough message that I had to.

I love how realistic Q is and how raw the emotions are but it just isn’t enough for me to bump my rating from 2.5 stars.

Content Warnings

More...