Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks

69 reviews

kamill3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

This is one of the most interesting and messed up books I have read in a long time and it completely broke me. I had no idea it was going to be so intensely sad and emotional, but I'm very glad I picked it up. If you can handle intense topics such as rape, gore, and drugs, I entirely recommend you read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Rape, and Drug abuse

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

1.5

The text is not an authentic text. It is written by someone who has no idea what real addiction looks like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Addiction, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Outing, Sexism, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

If you have ever struggled with addiction, pick another book to read. Pick one that captures addiction in a compassionate way.

gavinneedham's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.75

Don’t read this book, it is not good. This is 200 pages of conservative puritanical backlash to the hippies. How they ever got away with marketing this as nonfiction I don’t know. The plot is so badly devised and unrealistic. The narrator is one of the most annoying in fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Fatphobia, Drug use, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Homophobia, Ableism, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Read at your own risk. Problematic in every sense of the word.

aprillikestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I have to give this book such respect. It’s somebodies diary, it’s somebodies life. I feel I have no choice to go read it with respect, sympathy, and give it 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Eating disorder

Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia

smblanc1793's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

1.5

A tragic little story, both in its contents and its execution. The events are harrowing, but the protagonist is a such a blatant caricature of a teenager. Drugs bad. We get it. Looking at someone else’s diary is generally discouraged out of respect for the writer, but in this case, I would discourage it for the sake of the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Rape and Sexual content

elisweets's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

1.0

This was one of my favorite books when I was in middle school. I used to read this book over and over again, but I haven’t read it in ages. 
Boy was I surprised to find out how much I disliked the book now.
1) I have one of the older copies that state that this is an actual diary of an actual 15 year old girl who got involved with drugs. As I was reading the book I started to realize how completely unrealistic the events of the “diary” seemed. I did some googling and found out that this who story was invented by Some life named Beatrice Sparks who was an American therapist and Mormon youth counselor as a cautionary tale for drug use. (Though people began to question her credentials and there is no proof of the PHD that she claims to have.) So this story was literally invented by religious fanatic who wanted to tell kids drugs were bad. That explains the bizarre amount of homophobia in this book as well.
2) I wish Beatrice worked harder to make this more realistic because omg. You’re telling me two 15-17 year olds ran away and started an entire business by themselves in the matter of weeks??? She couldn’t even properly explain what it felt like to be high on said drugs she was using. Smoking weed doesn’t make you trip out the way this book describes it. 
3) A lot of homophobic undertones and gay shaming. The main character experiences attraction to characters of the same sex but then in the same sentence talks about how sinful and gross that is.

I was severely disappointed while reading this. :( I can’t believe THIS used to be one of my comfort books

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Rape, Child death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Addiction, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence

n0d0n's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pedophilia

caties_books's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

2.0

It took me soooo long to get through this book because I just kept cringing. Every single heavy-handed remark made me close the book. How on earth did people think this was anything other than a Christian trying to convince people that sex, drugs, and gay people are the worst things to ever happen to humanity? The only reason I gave it an extra star is that occasionally, when viewed strictly as fiction, it kept my attention in short bursts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Violence, and Sexual content

bethread's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization

bennybooks's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not a plot or character spoiler, but I would like to say that i personally don’t believe this book was taken directly from a real teen’s diary. Because I think this was written mostly by an adult, I know view the book as trying to get across a message. The book itself was a rollercoaster which I did enjoy reading. It’s bleak, in a way.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Drug abuse, and Mental illness