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joensign's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Suicide, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Death of parent
victorcrictor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A very good take on bad books, bad journalism and ethics
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
I hate true crime (and any fandom culture, really) so the layout, writing, and story didn’t do much for me because it’s trying to emulate true crime. Critical reviews point out this book is (not even subtly) based on a real murder, which is just gross. Any “commentary” the author was trying to make about the harmful and exploitative nature of true crime is totally undermined by her own exploitation of real victims and their families. Adding insult to injury, the author doesn’t acknowledge this “inspiration”.
The dialogue (podcast transcripts especially) was embarrassingly poor and made me wince a few times. The teenspeak was awful and not remotely relevant to the time period.
Writing didn’t work for me - very dry and flat. The ‘structure’ is basically an info dump. Abysmal pacing. Excessive filler. Spelling and grammar mistake abound. Desperately needed tighter editing. The characters were cardboard. Don’t even try and tell me this was intentional to illustrate how incompetent the journalist was… find me a single person that would choose to read a badly written, 400+ page book because iT’s ChArAcTeRiZaTiOn! It’s the authors job to make the read compelling and the editors job to make it coherent. This book is neither.
Book wasn’t sure what it wanted to be so doesn’t fully realize any of its potential on any themes. The claims of commentary on austerity/seaside towns in decline and ramifications of Brexit are patently false. A throwaway line or two isn’t critical commentary. Instead, author prioritized gratuitous violence and completely unneeded rambling tangents.
Why was it titled “Penance”? This isn’t a theme or thing in the book at all.
I came to dread picking this up and regret the time I spent with it. Waterstones recommendations always let me down. I guess it’s fair to not trust a bookshop: their priority is making money, not giving objective recs. 🤷🏼♀️
Hard do not recommend. If you have to read it, get it from the library. Don’t spend your money on this. Lastly, a gentle reminder that DNFing a bad book is self-care.
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
ameliasbooks's review against another edition
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Confinement, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Pandemic/Epidemic
nightstitch96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings
elanuruysal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
augie_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Xenophobia
noveltay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can’t wait for another book by this author. Her two out right now, are both 5 star reads for me.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
bellsdixon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism