Reviews tagging 'Death'

Penance by Eliza Clark

126 reviews

cadence99's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

What a VISCERAL experience of a book as a woman who grew up online in the 2010’s- this has so many elements that made it a perfect read for me: the most unreliable narrator, niche tumblr cringe, and true crime community critique. This is definitely a unique experience of a book that I wouldn’t recommend to just anyone BUT it worked SO well for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

grahammoore's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, and Rape

lars702's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Torture

sophie______a's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

lweezthereadrat's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

The premise made me pick this up because true crime makes me squirm- it was interesting to see it pastiched and dissected. I would've loved some more of the interview/aftermath of the book in the book being published, the last ten pages were exhilarating. The main meat of the book is also gripping but very grim- I was seriously worried I wouldn't be able to stomach Penance after the first twenty pages but luckily Clark doesn't linger on the unpleasant details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

tessa_specchio's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

woah 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

florenceassetto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

i really liked this one! part of me wishes it was not read during exam season but it is also the only thing that has kept me sane(ish) so i have to be thankful! the speculative aspect of the book in it's entirety is something i found really interesting and i REALLY enjoyed the messaging and commentary it does on the real world - i find it particularly interesting and especially well delivered. this is almost definitely a book that is going to haunt me for a while but for all the best reasons, most definitely a read i would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Vomit

jesskb's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A dark work of fiction modelled on true crime with a frankly crazy level of realism. This book reflects on some of the darkest aspects of human nature, what drives people to extreme acts of violence, the lingering traumas of primary and secondary school bullying and the other hidden traumas that accompany them, and the horrors of being "terminally online" in the unfiltered madness of the Tumblr era. 

Interesting if horrific, and unusual for its almost documentary style - which worked very well as an audiobook, with a true crime podcasty feel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

whoisrois's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

books written for me specifically 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Classism

elenakperez's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

As someone who was a young girl on Tumblr in 2012 and in middle/high school in the 2010s, much of this book is familiar to me because of the online spaces I was tangential to at those times. Also, as a person who consumed true crime via podcasts and documentaries recently, this book has changed the way I consume true crime. This book has been eye-opening and really made me reflect on my own consumption of true crime as well as how our society engages with what is now an industry that profits off of retelling the oftentimes unsanctioned stories of peoples' real and very personal tragedies. I would recommend this book to everyone I know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism