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capmoons's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Death, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Drug abuse
bodybeingsoulstl's review against another edition
- 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.
... 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.
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
ebscaggs's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Racism, Drug abuse, Trafficking, and Sexual assault
soffafa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Drug abuse
fbzcab's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
reasek's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Moderate: Abandonment and Addiction
Minor: Alcoholism
crystaldragonst's review
Graphic: Xenophobia, Rape, Death, and Sexual assault
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- 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
ππππβ¨
β€οΈβπ₯ 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.
β€οΈβπ₯ 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.
π« Pleeeease check trigger warnings before reading and avoid if you can't take heavy reading right now.
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
juniperbranches's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Racism