Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Chlorine by Jade Song

74 reviews

maxineee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

As a past swimmer, I wish I had read this book in my high school years. Looking back on the sport with such fondness is a refreshing perspective, even with all the bad. My senior season was cut short in 2020 and so I never really got the proper goodbye to my beloved sport. I felt like a piece of me was in this one, and it swam away with Ren Yu the moment the book ended. 

Jade Song wrote about the friendships and tough spots that high school athletes are put in that come with the need for academic and extracurricular validation. Despite being a quick read, their story of self acceptance is not one I will soon forget.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Racism, and Sexism

joensign's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical content, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.0

the narrative wasn't cohesive, the writing wasn't my favorite, and the dialogue felt unnatural. i think i wanted more of a revenge story but we didn't really get that.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pedophilia, Gore, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexual content, Abandonment, Classism, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic relationship, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Confinement, Pregnancy, and Abortion

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, and Blood

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Racism

cryptidstar's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This book was so goood!  as a queer ex swimmer also obsessed with mermaids (to a less intense degree) I was super excited to read this book and it didn’t disappoint. I feel like even though

sewing your legs together and ultimately escaping into the water to be a real life mermaid

is most definitely unhinged, it’s also the kind of unhinged that I think really represents the feeling of being a high achieving, mentally ill, queer high schooler. My least favorite part of the book was Ren and Cathy’s relationship simply because Ren clearly didn’t actually care for Cathy. I wish Ess was in the story for longer, but then again I also think smoking more weed might have made changed Ren’s trajectory a little too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, and Sexual harassment

angela_iseli's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

Moderate: Racism, Fatphobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Eating disorder

kalldaff's review against another edition

dark sad 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

Soooo disturbing, but it was literally recommended to me because of the disturbing ending scene :..) if I had a nickel for every anthropomorphic sapphic coming of age novel with body horror I've read I'd have three nickels... which isn't a lot etc etc

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Racism

jcnfia's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.5

OH MY GOD. Thank you for your time. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying and Classism

lettuce_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Picked it up not knowing what to expect, and finished it the same night because I couldn't put it down. A slow burn that's not slow-paced. The build up to the scene had me in knots, I don't know how else to describe it. The whole experience has left me in some kind of mildly disturbed, ecstatic awe. I'm going to have book-hangover for at least a week.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Racism and Homophobia

There's a content warning in the author's note.

dreamer626's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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: Racial slurs and Racism