Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Chlorine by Jade Song

29 reviews

jennifercheck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Mental illness, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault

embargo's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

It can be hard to strike a balance when dealing with body-horror to keep the story grounded. I think Song does a pretty phenomenal job of balancing reality and the fantastic here. There's some real "horror-of-the-mundane" in the early parts of the book with her descriptions of injuries and periods and the like, which keeps the eventual ending from feeling too out of left field. 

This is definitely a horror novel that relies on the tension of the inevitable. It's pretty obvious where everything is heading, but the buildup is done methodically. The pay off feels natural in a way I wouldn't have thought would be possible if just describing the premise of the book. It feels less like a "how could they?", where the horror is directed at the MC and more of a "well of course", where the horror is directed at the culture that has led her to this moment. It's upsetting, but it doesn't feel like a sideshow, which is often my issue with body horror.

If you're the type of horror reader who likes to dissect the themes and symbolism more than you like the scares, this might be one to check out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Rape, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Bullying, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Okay, a lot of CWs on this one. In order to give info without spoiling too broadly, I'll split the spoilers into a few groups: Violence and Gore, Mental Health, and Sex Violence and Gore, major spoiler for end of the book:

The ultimate horror of the book is the MC, who longs to be a mermaid, eventually self mutilates by cutting off bits of her legs and sewing them together. This is described fairly in depth. There are also other scenes where things are very graphically described in a way that conflates them with violence, even if they aren't typically seen as "violent", such as the MCs first period being described in a graphic manner. There are some sports or accident related injuries also described quite graphically.

Mental Health:

The over all plot of the book is about a young woman's coming of age in a way that shows that even things that may be deemed typical/normal are, (for the MC as well as many irl women) intensely traumatic. She is neglected by her parents. She and other teens are emotionally and physically abused by her coach. She is at times bullied by others. She has one close friend, and their relationship is unhealthy in about 2 dozen ways. There's a heaping helping of gaslighting from pretty much everyone. There is a lot of medical trauma, as well as drug abuse (primarily of ottc pain killers) and disordered eating (primarily restriction). The ending of the book could very easily be read as a metaphor for suicide. It is not explicitly stated as such, but (and here's the big spoiler, so last chance to dip if you care about that) she ends up sewing her legs into a tail. She is hospitalized, with those around her unable to understand her motivations or desire to "keep her tail". She eventually convinces her friend/love interest to help her break out of the hospital and "release her" into the river. You can read this as a fantastical story, but at the same time, it is very easy to read "becoming a mermaid" as a stand in for committing, especially within the cultural contexts provided by the mermaid myths listed throughout the book. The book is deeply sympathetic towards the MCs desire to become a mermaid. To me, it read very much as still a horror, and another way that the MC was let down by literally everyone around her until she had no options that were acceptable left to her. But ymmv, and it is emotionally intense, so if that's not something you're in the right headspace for, be aware.

Sex:

The MC's coach is pretty explicitly grooming her. It is unclear how far he is/was planning on going with it, but it's pretty textbook grooming. She is raped by a team mate at a party. The MC prevaricates on if it actually "counts" as rape, but in my opinion, it is done in such a way to make it clear to the reader that yes, it is rape, and the fact that she herself doubts her own assault is playing into the themes of societal breakdown/failure when dealing with young girls. The MC is sapphic. As a bisexual woman, I would say that she is a lesbian experiencing comphet, but at the very least she experiences attraction primarily towards women but does not feel she can act on it. There are some moments of dubious consent between the MC and her best friend- generally comes across as two repressed girls trying to take whatever they can get out of homosocial interactions, but some moments could be seen as sexually exploitative.

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

frogggirl2's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.5

I love the main character, the writing, the queer perspectives, and the examination of female friendship that goes beyond friendship.  I'm always a fan of people who are fish, or think they are fish or merpeople who want to be human, or merpeople onland, or anything similar.  What I had a little trouble with is the idea that she's a mentally ill girl, and she's going to have permanent disability. I don't think that's what I'm supposed to take away from this or that I'm even necessarily right about the conclusion of the book.  

From a storytelling perspective, the friend/girlfriend's letters detracted from the depth of the story and its momentum.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexism

librarysage's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

This book was a lot. I liked it, and couldn't put it down. It would not be for everyone, but I'm a fan of morally questionable narrators and decisions. Audible noises of confusion/worry/disgust made throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Blood, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

jaimeelou's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Medical content, and Sexual assault

porshainielsen's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.75

3.75. I thought this was going to be a five-star read at first, but it just kind of dragged on for me. I felt like the main character was super relatable at first, but increasingly became insufferable, and not the kind of insufferable I like. I get it, periods, boys and parents suck (among your pedo swim coach) but it felt like the descent into madness was not justified. Overall, a strong debut novel with great prose. 

I was also surprised by the amount of reviews commenting on how disgusting the body horror was, but this was quite tame. Maybe people were drawn to the story of mermaids and didn't expect any true horror elements, even though they were pretty mild. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

lyrelyre's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

a bit of a tedious and overdone book that could've used a heavy hand with edits.  repetitive in terms of pacing.  the main character and the "love interest" have the same character voice which hurts with the main character's personal identity (being misunderstood/suffering unique problems).  Best part was the peek into swimmer's life. might recc for someone new to the horror genre because the scenes are few but visceral.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Self harm

leanne_miron's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Blood, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Body horror, Medical content, Body shaming, and Adult/minor relationship

kaiyakaiyo's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was brutal, and a little more gritty than I usually like, but Ren’s brain was a fascinating, sometimes relatable place to be for almost 300 pages. 

at the beginning, I couldn’t tell if Ren had truly become a mermaid or if she was just leaning heavily into imaginative, metaphorical language (or was completely delusional), but Cathy’s letters made it clearer that she truly did transcend humanity. I liked that it felt a bit ambiguous, but did like the confirmation before things got too nebulous. 

I can’t put my finger on why this is a 4.5 instead of a 5, but it is. a good read, but not quite favorites shelf-worthy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia