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Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Chlorine by Jade Song

34 reviews

herelieshenry's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-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

2.25

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frogggirl2's review against another edition

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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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hanz's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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sapsquatch's review against another edition

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

4.0

The expectation for a competitive high school swimmer to succeed. The extremes that Ren took to be what she always wanted to, and all came into play were the bullying, the pressure, and the lack of real support. 
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charlie_woodchipper's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow, this will definitely become a comfort read (Or rather listen, on audible, which was incredibly well done. Especially when Ren screamed near the ending)

Having done 1 year of competitive swimming in high school, and quitting because it was hella toxic, I 100% relate and 100% remember being horrified by the girls whose swimming was there whole life. It was uncanny and unsettling, just like in this book. Boys and men were also forbidden in my school from participating or being coach, because there had been too much sexual violence in the past. Men and boys are really all the same

I related with Ren and Jim ""relationship"", knowing what it's like to fall prey to predatory adult men, feeling valued and special by them

I related to how traumatic putting a tampon on is for the first time. My mother's impatience. How I HAD to do it, because I had swimming practice. How she made me put lub on for it to finally work. I went through the same thing

I related with Cathy's codependency. I had a Ren of my own during childhood all the way to highschool 

Being born with OCD from family genes, I related to Ren obsessive and compulsive behaviours 

I can't wait to read more from Jade!

Only two things that made no sense to me ; How the team still had a party after Ren made her tail (I'm convinced they would have been WAY too disturbed for that. Secondly, although it was very satisfying, how Luke believed Ren mermaid haunted him. Like Virginie Despentes in King Kong Theory said, very few rapists actually believe that they are rapists. I think Luke, if he were a real boy, would most definitely not picture himself as a rapist for what he did in the shed. Most likely would have convinced himself it was consensual


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eleniphant's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

  • Ok so I have a soft spot for “what the fuck” literary fiction. Deranged coming of age for girls fiction is near and dear to me. 
  • I felt this book, viscerally, and sometimes more than I would want. There was relatability to the pain of girlhood, and the very heavy topics were handled interestingly and well. 
  • Gorgeous prose though sometimes a bit try-hard. I’ll be curious to see more by this author. The whole book left me pensive.
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ouijabroad's review against another edition

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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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lexim's review against another edition

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4.0

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kepler's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

2.0

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catwhisperer's review against another edition

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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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