Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Chlorine by Jade Song

24 reviews

maecaitlin's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

3.25

A stunning ballad to perfectionism. Song’s debut novel is beyond impressive. The character of Ren Yu is fascinating as Song does an excellent job of exploring the deep ocean of girlhood. The mermaid identity is a rejection of the weighty expectations placed on Ren - getting into an Ivy League college, maintaining her virginity, pushing down her queerness.  Song is empathetic towards these struggles, and it shrines through the book.

As a psychological horror, the setting of a small suburban town creeps in throughout. Ren’s transformation is deeply disturbing. I have certainly never thought about mermaids as a horror device before this. Song is extremely original and I look forward to whatever she writes next.

The only area of development I would like to see is more introspection. Song does a solid job in describing the mixed emotions of experiencing an assault, yet this nuance is not consistent throughout her prose. Many of the male characters are one-note and fall flat as antagonists. Ren and Cathy’s relationship is inconsistent in a way that could be purposeful. However, this inconsistency makes the ending lose weight as a sense of mutual desire and connection is never felt between the two.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Medical trauma and Medical content

Minor: Pedophilia

hanz's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Misogyny, Homophobia, and Racism

ra22ouille's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I really liked this book, and I found it pretty difficult to read content wise. The narration felt really visceral all the time and was super gripping, and I think the quality of their narration really added to how distressing the content was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical trauma, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape

lordslag's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Truly an insane (good) debut Super Awesome and Wonderful and I can’t wait to re-read and cry some more. The writing style was so engaging for me so Trust!!!! I will be picking up everything else this author releases, so happy I finally read this and if you are thinking about it Please please read!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Self harm, Body horror, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Car accident, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Bullying

tejanafeminist's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

themadsonlibrary's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Self harm

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

penguiniq's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, and Sexual violence

another_dahlia'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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

ellaxiao's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

Will recommend to all my freaky sapphics driven to fight our own bodies and lives for freedom. wrecked me in the best ways, if this book had been around in middle school I would have been foaming at the mouth and realized I was a lesbian earlier. but I also would have passed away bc it’s too powerful 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Body shaming, and Sexual violence

bitchigo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Racism, and Self harm