Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Chlorine by Jade Song

33 reviews

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

chughes5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fatphobia, Racism, Body horror, Rape, Dysphoria, Self harm, Gore, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, and Bullying

ouijabroad's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

3.75

I really enjoyed this one which I’m thankful for because I’ve had several let downs recently.

I read this in about a day because I couldn’t put it down! The writing is beautiful and as a child who never wanted to leave the water and longed to be a mermaid so badly I connected with Ren on some level (not to the extreme she went to of course). I remember hopping around with my legs crisscrossed at the ankles in my elemntary school classroom and being enamored with the mermaids in the cartoon of Peter Pan.

The telling of a coming of age tale that didn’t fall into tropes and cis-heteronormativity was refreshing.

My only real “complaint”, and I’m using that term loosely because as I said I loved this, I don’t know if I would call this book a horror book; there’s really only one visceral scene and the rest, while unsettling (or maybe not depending on if you believe Ren’s ideas about herself)  is mostly a coming of age story mixed with a fairy tale…then again, growing up a girl is pretty horrible. The descriptions of how Jim is with the young girls made me seethe and cringe as someone who has experienced this kind of behavior by many men I’ve come into contact with at a young age. It seems universal. I did find a lot of truth in Song’s writing even if Ren and I experienced very different childhoods. 

Normally ambiguous endings annoy me but I was satisfied with this one. Then I keep thinking is it ambiguous though?! I think it’s up to the reader and some context clues to decide that. 

Again I really loved this even though it strayed pretty far out of my chosen horror genre. Looking forward to reading more of Jade Song’s work in the future! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gore, Blood, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Xenophobia, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, and Rape

woolfinbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Body horror, Body shaming, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Bullying and Blood

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

catwhisperer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Dysphoria, Medical content, Racism, and Sexual assault

kmartbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Thank you to libro.fm for the ALC! This is my honest review.

This is a horror novel, so you're going to be disturbed. So, enjoyment: 3/5 stars; writing: 5/5. Jade Song is talented. 

This is such a complex and intense book. This is one of those rare authors that are able to find the horror in the mundane. This is a novel about a young competitive swimmer in high school and that's really all I can tell you without sounding like a crazy person. This discusses the harm done to those in extremely competitive sports with a little smattering of other equally important and uncomfortable topics. Important read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Gore, and Medical content

Minor: Bullying, Fatphobia, and Abandonment

courto875's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Confinement

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Rape, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

readwithminialex's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Self harm, and Body horror

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

5.0

obsessedobsessedobsessedobsessedobsessedobsessedobsessed. Literary fiction made for me. A perfect and bloody picture of the horrific violence that is teenage girlhood and the all-consuming desire: from that of a first (sapphic) crush to freedom from the pressures and pain and trauma inflicted on young bodies. This is so viscerally good. 

Content warnings: blood, menstruation, body horror, sexual assault, grooming, bullying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Self harm, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Body shaming