Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Chlorine by Jade Song

10 reviews

faeriefangss's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Gore, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Blood, Drug use, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

lexiesophocli's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.5

felt a lot like ‘our wives under the sea’ in that the mystical element was very confusing, despite the rest of the story being an interesting read. I was waiting for a deeper dive (pardon the pun) into the characters and their motivations but it never came - all in all, this book felt a bit shallow (wow two for two on the wordplay) and lazy for what could’ve been an incredible read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Body horror, Blood, Self harm, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Addiction, Drug use, Abortion, and Car accident

narzibenoucdel's review

dark reflective medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Addiction, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual assault

heather_harrison's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.5

I don't even know what to make of this book. I thought I knew where it was headed in the first 30% of the story, and then after that it took a very bizarre turn. By the time I re-acclimatised, it took a particularly horrific wtf turn in the last 30% of the story

as we the reader are included in Ren's plans to sew her legs together and become a mermaid, I found myself screaming internally that surely somebody will notice and stop this, but it just keeps going...

 

I will say there isn't so much a sapphic romance, as there is sapphic longing. 

This story was dark and bizarre combination of coming of age, and body horror. Some of the prose was awkward and clunky but I found I was more enthralled with the subject... In the way that you can't look away from a train wreck. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

aileron's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Dysphoria, Gore, Physical abuse, Body horror, Blood, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Bullying, Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Racism, and Vomit

bluedilly's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Addiction, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders

komaedacoffee's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

jamieleepilk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Drug use, Addiction, Medical content, and Body shaming

infinite_helix's review

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Loved it, devoured it, but the ending after the climax kinda drops off? Are we supposed to believe in magic and self ascension like Ren and Cathy? Or are we grounded in reality like Ren’s mom and the doctors?

Does she actually get to live her mermaid dream and is ignoring Cathy’s letters like she said she would, or did she swim downstream and die from her injuries, and Cathy is still deluded by love?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Dysphoria, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood

It is hinted at heavily throughout and even more so during the build up but the big body horror/gore/SH is that Ren

cuts flaps of skin on her legs and sews them across to the other side to make her tail

teseyasfalcon's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Wanted to love this way more than I did. It shouldn't have been comped to The Vegetarian because it set my expectations way too high/in a different direction and that kept me from enjoying as much as I could have. I also wanted more showing less telling; the pov was a bit too distant or self aware in a lot of parts and I wanted a closer intimacy/viscerality with her psyche. Without that intimacy the "these humans versus I the mermaid" didn't quite land convincingly. I think the retrospective and Cathy's letters took me out of it similarly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, and Body horror

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Sexual harassment and Eating disorder