Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Chlorine by Jade Song

86 reviews

raptorq's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Self harm

Moderate: Eating disorder, Racism, and Body shaming

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

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

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

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Chlorine left me speechless. Even as I write this review, I am struggling to formulate coherent sentences to explain just how much this story affected me. Chlorine is a devastating and powerful glimpse of the myriad pressures that young women face just by existing. Then, add to that already immense pressure the specific difficulties of navigating a highly competitive sport while being a queer Asian American teenager who is also trying to maintain excellent grades. Protagonist Ren captured my heart - her intensity, perfectionism, and derealization were all highly relatable. And then her increasing mermaid obsession... it ultimately tore me apart. I've been gutted ever since I finished this novel.

Chlorine is not for the faint of heart! This is a horror novel that features some unforgettably gruesome imagery. Luckily for all of us, Jade Song includes a content warning at the very beginning to prepare her readers. However, I will say that I was still surprised by the extent of the detail in the horror scenes; but that's just me and my own comfort level with body horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Self harm, Blood, and Body horror

mkwreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Medical content, Drug use, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Body shaming

tenderbench's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

tcheschire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

The first 75% and the last 25% of this book reads like two entirely separate stories. Where the first three quarters is dreamy and tense, building up to an inevitable conclusion and providing us with some genuine and sometimes raw emotions, the final quarter feels like a Coen brothers movie. It’s inane and mundane adherence to its own out-there premise but discussed in a way that makes it ordinary and even boring. My suspension of disbelief broke hard. It’s not a long book, but it would have been better served not having the final quarter at all, rather than the author just filling it out by rote to tack an ending on it. If I could rate the two sections separately, I’d give the first 75% 4.5/5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

sarahnh's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

5.0

Mermaids and queerness and swim team comraderie and a slow descent into madness 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Medical content, and Self harm