Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Penance by Eliza Clark

64 reviews

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Child death, Gun violence, Bullying, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Drug use, Incest, and Suicide

Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, and Homophobia

tallhousecookies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Confinement, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Suicide

abi_laura's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings

ginagray's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Child death, Blood, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Murder, Gore, Torture, Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, and Bullying

bek_p87's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

This was dark, twisted, and thought-provoking on several levels. Presented as a non-fiction true-crime book about a horrific fictional murder in a small seaside town, this is about evil, our fascination with it, and how capitalism monetises this fascination. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Ableism, Murder, Sexual violence, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicide

mookisbooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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: Classism, Emotional abuse, Torture, Bullying, Child death, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

opldxblqo's review against another edition

dark medium-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

4.0

I am exactly the demographic for this book: late 20s white woman who spent considerable time on Tumblr in the early 2010s; this book would have fallen short if not for lighting up the teenage nostalgia centers of my brain with its references to the edgy internet culture of my morbid youth (No, I wasn't ever in a serial killer fandom, but I ate up true crime and occasionally looked at "pro ana" blogs with a horrified outsider's fascination). Any reader who missed out on the absolute chum bucket that was Tumblr in the early 2010s (lucky you!) will likely be bored by large chunks of this book.
Despite its heavy reliance on niche internet nostalgia, what Clark gets right in Penance is the critical look at the culture of violence entertainment in true crime media. Penance asks readers to look inward at their rubber-necking voyeurism without scolding; asks readers to question the motives of true crime content creators, and understand that this content more often than not retraumatizes victims' families. Though this exact critique has been explored many times through fiction in the last couple of years in novels such as I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (blah), and Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (five starts!), Penance does so much more thoroughly through the use of metanarrative. The sections of prose are well written and each character feels fully fleshed and complex; a delightful surprise after Clark's disappointing first novel, Boy Parts.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, Incest, Gun violence, Child death, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Murder, Torture, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, and Death

jhansell's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Child death, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual violence

katerina_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Bullying, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Homophobia, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

drrock's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Torture, Child death, Alcoholism, Deportation, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Rape, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, and Death