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bodybeingsoulstl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Please read the trigger warnings, this book discusses challenging topics around abuse of children, systemic racism, drugs, sexual assault/rape, and domestic abuse.
You might like this book, if you...
... are interested in paranormal folklore
... like a touch of realism in your thrillers
... believe in fate (but maybe not the romance kind)
... are interested in paranormal folklore
... like a touch of realism in your thrillers
... believe in fate (but maybe not the romance kind)
As a person who enjoys the paranormal, I was intrigued by the Filipino folklore of aswang. While I did not anticipate the heaviness + seriousness this book contained, it drove me to consider and think about the larger systems at play that impact our people daily (not in an effective or supportive way) and how one entity (by chance or maybe fate) can bring some justice to the cruelties of the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Body horror, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Murder, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Abandonment
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn ❤️🔥
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
❤️🔥 The plot: When Marina Salles is murdered by a serial killer, she transforms into an aswang: a vengeful spirit from her grandmother's Filipino folk tales. In the spirit's quest to avenge Marina's death, she flits through the minds and memories of the people in her life, including her killer, developing a deeper understanding of the forces that propelled her to this tragic end.
I found this book in @anovelideaphilly back in May and the blurb instantly drew me in. I love a ghost story, and I'm really interested in reading more Filipino storytelling (America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo was a highlight of my 2022 reading!) The writing here didn't disappoint: it was lively and vivid and totally compulsive.
It was also brutal. The novel starts with a visceral description of a murder and runs the gamut from childhood sexual assault and abuse to institutionalisation and addiction.
I never know where I land on the idea of "gratuitous" suffering in novels. There is no shortage of suffering in the world, where and why do we draw the line in fiction, especially when it draws from real stories and injustices? What does it mean for us to say there is "too much" pain in a novel?
This book made me even less sure. The reader has no out, no happy ending to look forward to. Some of the scenes here are among the most distressing I've ever read. I wondered what I was supposed to do with all of it, what the purpose was.
Reflecting now, I think maybe that sense of being at a loss was the point, stretching your heart to hold the beauty and the horror together. The moments of tenderness in this book were as keen as the moments of pain, and neither cancelled out the other. It showed that a life is never one thing - not a waste, not ever purely tragic. There was hope here, but it did not allow you to cast off the pain, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time.
❤️🔥 Read it if you're not deterred by what I've said above, and liked 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak.
🚫 Pleeeease check trigger warnings before reading and avoid if you can't take heavy reading right now.
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
❤️🔥 The plot: When Marina Salles is murdered by a serial killer, she transforms into an aswang: a vengeful spirit from her grandmother's Filipino folk tales. In the spirit's quest to avenge Marina's death, she flits through the minds and memories of the people in her life, including her killer, developing a deeper understanding of the forces that propelled her to this tragic end.
I found this book in @anovelideaphilly back in May and the blurb instantly drew me in. I love a ghost story, and I'm really interested in reading more Filipino storytelling (America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo was a highlight of my 2022 reading!) The writing here didn't disappoint: it was lively and vivid and totally compulsive.
It was also brutal. The novel starts with a visceral description of a murder and runs the gamut from childhood sexual assault and abuse to institutionalisation and addiction.
I never know where I land on the idea of "gratuitous" suffering in novels. There is no shortage of suffering in the world, where and why do we draw the line in fiction, especially when it draws from real stories and injustices? What does it mean for us to say there is "too much" pain in a novel?
This book made me even less sure. The reader has no out, no happy ending to look forward to. Some of the scenes here are among the most distressing I've ever read. I wondered what I was supposed to do with all of it, what the purpose was.
Reflecting now, I think maybe that sense of being at a loss was the point, stretching your heart to hold the beauty and the horror together. The moments of tenderness in this book were as keen as the moments of pain, and neither cancelled out the other. It showed that a life is never one thing - not a waste, not ever purely tragic. There was hope here, but it did not allow you to cast off the pain, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time.
❤️🔥 Read it if you're not deterred by what I've said above, and liked 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak.
🚫 Pleeeease check trigger warnings before reading and avoid if you can't take heavy reading right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Physical abuse
frogggirl2's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is a beautifully written depiction of some of the most horrendous things that happen in the world. It's nauseating in it's depiction of the abuse, rape and murder of women and children. Somehow, it still manages to find some optimism, which is miraculous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Child abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Addiction, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
ka_cam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is a heavy, dark, deeply sad read. The primary voice of the Aswang (/marina) was compelling and added a poignancy and semi-remove maybe ubique to the semi-first-semi-third person (if there’s a word for that I don’t know it). The love and attempts and love and care throughout really come through. I also personally liked how the title came through. I think the info abt the murderer was much less complex for the amount of time spent on it, though I realize she was working off a real person model there. There is some really tough explicit content here, so please mind the content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Child abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Body horror, Blood, Abandonment, and Addiction
Moderate: Kidnapping, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Medical content, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Eating disorder, and Dysphoria
Additional content warnings: child welfare systems, group homes, explicit descriptions of rape of a child and other child sexual and physical abuse, explicit descriptions of sex in the context of sex workbella_cavicchi's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
An absolute gut punch of a novel. It takes fifty or so pages to find its footing, but once it does, it hits hard and hits deeply -- and to that point, I think it deserves a far wider readership than it's currently earned. Let Chadburn's writing serve as a sobering reminder (and call to rage/action) that we continue to neglect women and children with intention. Will be thinking of this one for days.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Excrement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Violence, and Alcoholism
laurarevelesg's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
"You're luckier than me, Jessie said, as if she were reading her mind.
Why? I miss my dad too.
Yes, but there's just too many ways to miss your mother. There's like a hundred thousand ways"
Me tomó 4 meses leer esta novela porque cada cierto tiempo tenía que dejarla debido a la dureza de sus temas. Ahora que la terminé, solo puedo decir que tengo sentimientos encontrados.
La protagonista, Marina, sufre de todo tipo de violencia. Leer sobre esto, tragedia tras tragedia, fue exhaustivo. Sin embargo, esto no quiere decir que la historia de Marina, así como la de otras mujeres (ficticias y reales) no sea importante o no deba ser contada.
Las notas de autor finales dan nuevos ojos para apreciar la novela, por eso, a pesar de que el "trayecto" fue duro, y pocas veces disfrutable, regresar a la novela da una sensación agridulce, pues es tan cruel como bella.
Algo que no disfruté fue la intercalación entre los capítulos y la narración del aswang. Me ppareció que me distraía más de lo que verdaderamente guiaba la historia. Además, como había capítulos muy largos, al llegar a la parte del aswang ya no recordaba muy bien todo lo que había sucedido anteriormente.
Why? I miss my dad too.
Yes, but there's just too many ways to miss your mother. There's like a hundred thousand ways"
Me tomó 4 meses leer esta novela porque cada cierto tiempo tenía que dejarla debido a la dureza de sus temas. Ahora que la terminé, solo puedo decir que tengo sentimientos encontrados.
La protagonista, Marina, sufre de todo tipo de violencia. Leer sobre esto, tragedia tras tragedia, fue exhaustivo. Sin embargo, esto no quiere decir que la historia de Marina, así como la de otras mujeres (ficticias y reales) no sea importante o no deba ser contada.
Las notas de autor finales dan nuevos ojos para apreciar la novela, por eso, a pesar de que el "trayecto" fue duro, y pocas veces disfrutable, regresar a la novela da una sensación agridulce, pues es tan cruel como bella.
Algo que no disfruté fue la intercalación entre los capítulos y la narración del aswang. Me ppareció que me distraía más de lo que verdaderamente guiaba la historia. Además, como había capítulos muy largos, al llegar a la parte del aswang ya no recordaba muy bien todo lo que había sucedido anteriormente.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Abandonment, Blood, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
reading_and_roaming20's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I honestly don’t even know where to begin. Perhaps with a note to @fsgbooks to express how wildly grateful I am that they sent me this beautiful finished copy.
When I first read the synopsis, I was intrigued by the Filipino folklore and magical realism. I went in unsure of what to expect.
What I found was an unflinching, raw, difficult story of a girl who is faced with ugly, brutal circumstances. The story became more than the aswang’s mission to avenge Marina’s untimely death at the hands of a serial killer, and dove into an eye-opening social commentary on the child welfare system and missing women, particularly those of color.
I loved the alternating chapters of Marina’s journey to the time, place and person that ended her life and the aswang’s narrative. It felt as though MELISSA CHADBURN was holding my face in her hands, forcing me to keep looking at the scenes that unfolded in such a horrific way. It is natural to want to look away from such violence and heartbreak, but the trauma is not for shock value and has purpose. Brutal stories of so many women are represented in these pages and CHADBURN will not allow us to be willfully ignorant to them.
This is not to say that this book is nightmare through and through. CHADBURN’s unique writing drew me in and had its way of creating moments of tenderness and warmth. I look back on this book thinking about Marina’s sweetness and childhood innocence that were never entirely lost, even as her life eventually progressed to prostitution as a means of survival.
There was something special about the descriptions and storytelling that I can’t quite put into words. I simply adore CHADBURN’s writing style. I am blown away that this is a debut and will be thinking about it for a very, very long time.
TW / CW :: This book comes with a serious need to consider trigger and content warnings prior to consuming. Marina’s story is graphic and will not be for everyone. There are play-by-play accounts of r*pe, child abuse and drug use, among other potentially triggering topics. Please look into these further.
When I first read the synopsis, I was intrigued by the Filipino folklore and magical realism. I went in unsure of what to expect.
What I found was an unflinching, raw, difficult story of a girl who is faced with ugly, brutal circumstances. The story became more than the aswang’s mission to avenge Marina’s untimely death at the hands of a serial killer, and dove into an eye-opening social commentary on the child welfare system and missing women, particularly those of color.
I loved the alternating chapters of Marina’s journey to the time, place and person that ended her life and the aswang’s narrative. It felt as though MELISSA CHADBURN was holding my face in her hands, forcing me to keep looking at the scenes that unfolded in such a horrific way. It is natural to want to look away from such violence and heartbreak, but the trauma is not for shock value and has purpose. Brutal stories of so many women are represented in these pages and CHADBURN will not allow us to be willfully ignorant to them.
This is not to say that this book is nightmare through and through. CHADBURN’s unique writing drew me in and had its way of creating moments of tenderness and warmth. I look back on this book thinking about Marina’s sweetness and childhood innocence that were never entirely lost, even as her life eventually progressed to prostitution as a means of survival.
There was something special about the descriptions and storytelling that I can’t quite put into words. I simply adore CHADBURN’s writing style. I am blown away that this is a debut and will be thinking about it for a very, very long time.
TW / CW :: This book comes with a serious need to consider trigger and content warnings prior to consuming. Marina’s story is graphic and will not be for everyone. There are play-by-play accounts of r*pe, child abuse and drug use, among other potentially triggering topics. Please look into these further.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Drug use, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction
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