Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Chlorine by Jade Song

399 reviews

adreedeluna's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

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You meet an unreliable, teenage narrator who deserves more grace and patience than most readers want to give her. This book encapsulated the toxicity + trauma caused by overly competitive sports teams. Plus the overall pressures of being first gen, femme identifying and queer. 

The delicacy of sanity, success and self awareness are highlighted. We witnessed the horrors of Ren hitting her threshold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault

aphrodykery's review against another edition

4.75

dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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naurrr cleor :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment

joy_s's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma

Moderate: Eating disorder

The ending and final transformation is what made me add the wanting for suicide, even though that is veeeery much open to interpretation. But given the dark themes, especially at the end, that’s a possibility for interpretation.

melreadsandrecs's review against another edition

3.0

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My inability to suspend disbelief really kills my reading enjoyment sometimes because my brain is just like, "okay but a social worker decibel altogether have been assigned here"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Absolutely crazy seeing Ren turn into something beautiful and horrible at the same time-- her physical characteristics matching her actual character. All the characters are flawed, Ren most of all. I loved the mermaid mythology but did not care for her romances

(Cathy you are too real tbh... best character)

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Physical abuse, Pregnancy

paigeadler's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Blood

kbeucler's review against another edition

5.0

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Goodness but this was good. Swimming is Ren’s life and she’d do anything to become a mermaid and live forever in the water. Anything. Incredible prose and tension building. Super cool magical realism. I was also a swimmer, and a butterflier to boot, all through grade school so I can definitely relate to the obsessive nature of competitive swimming that Song describes.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is such a short book, but it packed a punch. It tells of toxic sports culture, the violence of girlhood, and a bittersweet love story. It has sapphic love, it has gore, it has swimming - what more could you want? 

I just felt so much reading this book, I annotated every page, and I didn't want to stop reading. I felt so seen by these pages, in terms of an experience that I don't feel like I can share with people in my daily life. No one would understand the excessive training like Jade Song does. No one would understand how all-consuming swimming can be. 

This book was so raw, but also very refined, somehow at the same time. I think it perfectly encompassed girlhood in that sense. 

Fuck, it was so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Medical content, Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

ruronisai's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

bassbot's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical trauma