Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash

8 reviews

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Homophobia, Violence, Bullying, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Classism, Cursing, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Suicide, Deadnaming, Rape, and Stalking

savshelfinger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

great novel to disappear into but NOT a light read 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Addiction, and Bullying

Minor: Drug abuse

emilycmarshman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Deadnaming, Child death, Grief, Gore, Child abuse, and Bullying

readingwithgoose's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

2.5

The writing is really good and I think the story was told well. I just felt no joy while reading it. Not quite "trauma-porn", but everything just kept getting worse and darker and idk. Don't recommend if you want a fun read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Violence, Grief, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Murder, Suicide attempt, Death, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Addiction, Bullying, and Blood

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the eARC! The book is set in New Hampshire during the 90s satanic panic, which is what had me intrigued especially as it’s marketed as a murder mystery/thriller. The MC/narrator’s parents are beloved in their community until hysteria of the Satanic panic cause accusations to be thrown against them.

The book had a very slow start and didn’t ever grab my interest. 

Writing feels disjointed with more telling than showing. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters, they’re all morally grey and the disjointed writing makes them a bit disconnected from us as readers. You never really know what to believe because the narrator is a child for the first part, which I did enjoy the unreliable aspect.

So many slurs especially in terms of homophobic slurs and ableist slurs-I get that it was the time period but it felt overwhelmingly icky and unnecessary at times.

More lit fic coming of age than the thriller/mystery/horror like it’s listed as on goodreads and what I was hoping for 😭 I sooo badly wanted to love this!! If it was marked correctly as being lit fic and didn’t say it’s a murder mystery in the synopsis, then maybe I would’ve gone in with different expectations but I’m not in the mood for lit fic coming of age right now, I wanted horror/thriller vibes. 

If you also want a satanic panic horror or thriller book, check out dark places by Gillian Flynn instead (also saw my best friends exorcism recommended but haven’t read it yet).

TW/CW: ableism, homophobia, slurs, bullying, child sexual assault

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Ableism

nickel_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This novel is not for the faint of heart. Thrash's adult debut chronicles the life of a New Hampshire teen whose whole family is caught up in the Satanic Panic, experiencing tragedy and trauma for the 20 years that follow the fateful night of her parents' arrest. Rainbow Black is a challenging read that produces a wide range of emotions - anger, frustration, horror, dismay, compassion, and a smidgen of hope. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Pedophilia, Rape, Transphobia, Animal death, Deadnaming, Gore, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Death, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Violence

hsheehan85's review against another edition

slow-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

2.75

The book started out really interesting. I liked following the story of the satanic panic during the 90s and what it was like to be gay during that time. Then, the main character kept making comments of something that happened and it felt like forever before we get to where it actually happens. Then takes even longer to get to the point of it all after the event. It felt to me like a lot of filler to make a longer book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Bullying

book_ish_bitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Drug use, and Homophobia