Reviews tagging 'Death'

Penance by Eliza Clark

117 reviews

seventhswan's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I'm struggling to articulate why I liked this book so much. The writing is technically sound but very simple, and - unlike Boy Parts - I didn't think the plot was particularly novel or surprising. After all, in terms of storyline and structure, this book isn't too dissimilar to The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, which I hated. And yet I could not look away from this story.

The attention to detail throughout the story was impeccable. I felt throughout that Clark must have firsthand experience in the communities she writes about, or else have done incredible quantities of research, as all the minor details were so true to life. The setting was a character in its own right and I questioned whether it might be a real place (it isn't). Extreme acts of violence were depicted with such simplicity and restraint that they didn't feel all that affecting - until I tried to put the book down.

A few of the references and allusions in the text felt a bit on the nose for me - either have a generic noncy character or actual Jimmy Savile, but it annoys me to read about Definitely Jimmy Savile But With A Different Name And Haircut - but I loved this book on the whole, and it's cemented Eliza Clark as an "auto-buy" author for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

I can see what the author is trying to do with this story and I was really interested in it. But unfortunately the writing style she decided to go for is not helpful and almost a quarter into the book the story shouldn't be that stiff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

sstento's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

noveltay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

This felt like a documentary and a thriller movie combined. Very entertaining and a quick page turner. I googled multiple times reading to see if this was a true story, or based on a real town etc. Every character was unlikeable, minus maybe some parents.

I can’t wait for another book by this author. Her two out right now, are both 5 star reads for me.

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

a_dja's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Alcohol

zoeygrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, and Outing

bookish_hollyx's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Murder