Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body by Megan Milks

6 reviews

rororow's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Not for everyone, I know, but I felt like this book was my teenage experience. Amazingly written and unravels in the most insane way at the end.
It wasn’t mentioned, but to me, Margaret is absolutely coded autistic and it made my relationship to her teenage hood so much stronger.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Body shaming

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Body horror

bmitch's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Rape, Medical content, Sexism, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Vomit

sophie42's review

challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Body shaming

Moderate: Vomit, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria

Minor: Rape, Self harm, and Transphobia

bugle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Rape

_autumn_'s review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Car accident, Excrement, Transphobia, Confinement, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Rape

seawarrior's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an interesting and labyrinthine book that twisted in directions I hadn't expected. Margaret isn't exactly the most endearing protagonist, she's self absorbed, judgmental, and obsessed with righteousness. She also is largely in denial of how serious her eating disorder and her tendency to stay locked inside herself really are. Her journey to accepting that she must quit denying herself to model girlhood, and that she may not even be a girl at all, is not straightforward, and honestly somewhat unsatisfying to read. I understood her story and where it was headed, and how it had to end, because I've lived pieces of it myself, but I'm not sure I'd have made sense of what she was going through otherwise. 

I also found the paranormal aspects of this book off-putting. They stick out like a sore thumb in what is otherwise a down-to-earth narrative about identity, which left me wondering if these events had really been experienced, or were simply imagined by a younger, unbalanced Margaret who was unable to face reality. The last letter in the book hints that this might be the case, but it's never made explicitly clear. Maybe this element of the story does not or won't bother other readers, but it kinda gets under my skin. 

In my opinion, the strongest features of this book are how eating disorders, dissatisfaction with the self and the world it knows, growing up, misogyny, and transgender identity, were all approached and written as the intricate and perplexing experiences that they are. Too often it seems tempting for fiction writers to simplify how people, especially teenagers, endure these uncertainties and move towards healthy adulthood. Margaret's experiences with realizing she is queer and seeking treatment for her eating disorder are anything but simple, even her diagnosis cannot be specified and categorized simply. While at the treatment center she initially begins to self-destruct, but later gets to know other people who disrupt and enlighten her knowledge of how mental illness manifests, and what it means to grow into your own power. 

I would recommend this book to others who are alright with reading a narrative that doesn't provide them with easy answers. The majority of the story takes place in a treatment center for adolescents with eating disorders, so we're mostly reading about the perspectives of young people who are very unhappy with themselves, and often self destructive. Please keep this in mind, as some of what they think and say may be triggering if you have an eating disorder or are in recovery from one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Car accident, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Rape, Murder, Kidnapping, and Child death