Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Permafrost by Eva Baltasar

13 reviews

alexymoe's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Each chapter can be considered self-contained

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Cancer, and Gaslighting

Minor: Self harm and Body shaming

courtenaywrites's review

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Baltasar is first and foremost a poet. That much is obvious by the lyrical nature of 'Permafrost'. I have adored everything Baltasar has written, and I am looking forward to her upcoming novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

veelaughtland's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Self harm, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide and Pregnancy

pigeon_'s review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy and Drug use

lilacsophie's review against another edition

emotional reflective

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Self harm

writtenbyfai's review

dark emotional funny slow-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

quietdayreads's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

emisharples's review

challenging dark reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

miasmxle's review

dark emotional reflective sad

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Medical content

firstiteration's review

challenging 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Permafrost reads like poetry. The shapes of the protagonist’s relationships and life reveal themselves slowly, and reading is like watching a watercolour painting as it is gradually created. This really is the kind of book where details and images eventually come together to form a whole, especially since the ending was not what I expected when I began my read, but it felt right.

I know not a word of Catalan, so I’m grateful to Julia Sanches for translating this book. I can’t speak to the quality of translation itself, but the translator’s note makes it clear that Sanches worked with a great deal of care and attention to detail. In English, Permafrost is an excellent read.

As a lesbian, Permafrost is one of those books that feels real. I think many of us lesbians feel tense when lesbian sexuality is depicted in fiction because for so long, we’ve been portrayed by non-lesbians in a variety of ways that are exploitative or insulting, especially when it comes to sex. The sexuality in Permafrost is raw and honest. I think that’s incredibly valuable, both because as a lesbian I really enjoy reading it and because it’s good that this kind of portrayal of lesbian sexuality by a lesbian exists. It's not the only one, I know, but it's still rare enough that it's notable to me.

But it goes beyond the sex part of being a lesbian. The protagonist’s feeling of being mismatched with the life that is expected of her and especially the lives of her family members is explored well throughout the book. I really enjoy how Eva Baltasar portrays life, and next I’m going to see if any of her poems have been translated to English.

If you liked Permafrost, I suggest Qiu Miaojin’s Last Words from Montmartre or Virtuoso by Yelena Moskovich. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia