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applesodaperson's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Read from the Provo library.
Moderate: Gore
ouijabroad's review against another edition
- 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 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!
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
mkwreads's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
sarahnh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Medical content, and Self harm
ktbee's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical content, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism
themadsonlibrary's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Self harm
Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
kepler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Dysphoria, Body horror, Self harm, Gore, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
another_dahlia's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Gore, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
Minor: Fatphobia, Vomit, and Excrement
jwal00's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Medical content, and Self harm