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kng_writes's review
2.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gore, Vomit, Animal death, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Antisemitism and Fatphobia
Minor: Xenophobia
bea_reads_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Sexual violence, coercive control, and mental illness are really big themes in this book. The main character and her love interest both experienced sexual assault from adults as minors, and the main character describes in detail exactly what her doctor did to her around 50% of the way through the book. There is no penetrative rape, but it is still hard to read. If sexual violence/harassment is a trigger for you, I would advise you to be extremely cautious about this book, and to take care of yourself if you do decide to read it.
Additionally, the main character is mentally ill. She has violent intrusive thoughts about self harm. She has an eating disorder and forces herself to vomit up everything she eats. She also experiences intense anxiety. As someone who also has anxiety and intrusive thoughts, this was hard for me to read, but also nice in a way. It’s good to know I’m not the only person in the world this happens to.
Aside from the hard parts, this was a well written book in my opinion. The pacing was good, the romance was okay, and the prose and worldbuilding were very compelling. I also liked how the author showed the many ways in which abuse can manifest in someone. The main character, Marlinchen, is one of three sisters. One of them became cruel, taking out her hurt and anger on her sisters because she couldn’t take it out on her father. The other became cunning and level-headed, always making herself seem like the sensible one while working behind her sisters’ backs to gain her father’s favor. And Marlinchen is constantly fielding insults about how she is nothing but a doormat, doing everything her father says without complaint to avoid angering him.
I think this story is a wonderful commentary on the ways in which an abuser can fully and completely f*ck up the lives of everyone around them, and how hard it is for their victims to heal afterward, all wrapped up in the guise of a fairytale retelling.
Graphic: Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Blood, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Fatphobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
meat_muffin's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Alcohol
tifftastic87's review
If you plan on reading it, look at the whole list of content warnings not just the top three.
Graphic: Self harm, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Fatphobia, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Graphic depictions of binging and purging, graphic descriptions of intrusive thoughts of extreme self harmgrace615's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Fatphobia, Blood, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, and Sexual assault
ninjatrombonist's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Self harm, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia
onthelam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness
cmckayo's review
- 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
Graphic: Xenophobia, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Fatphobia
fizzieee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Vomit
lindseeclark's review
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Grief, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Murder, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Self harm, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Blood