Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell

3 reviews

kell_xavi's review

reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Some of the most beautiful and the saddest sexual moments I’ve read. There’s a richness to Greenwell’s writing, an almost satisfaction that holds something back, preferring to muddy the waters of thoughts and events rather than to present them starkly, cleanly as the title proposes. 

There’s something new in the final chapter, a shift that isn’t wholly unexpected but that complicates previous moments and gives a desire a harsh glare. There’s sadness again, in that, a coming clean of shame. This is a second meaning of the title, and I appreciated how the stories developed from beginning to end, at once shedding naïveté and gaining something harder, less pliable. 

I’m glad to have found these stories, this thread of living in Bulgaria, teaching and touching, protesting and accepting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol

moneyispizza's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol