Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Penance by Eliza Clark

78 reviews

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

jessisamess's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

this book was a really interesting and relevant take on social media and fandom culture, which may be difficult for older generations to understand and perhaps why some critics have been slightly confused, but as somebody who has grown up in this era of tumblr and stan culture, i find this to have a nuanced take on it and the real-world impact of such a parasocial culture.  i think the unreliable narrator was done very well and i like how we get to see all the perspectives.

at times it does border on being almost too humanising and too excusing of the murder but i think that may be because of the unreliable narrator

the structure of this book is great as well, as we progress from victim to ringleader and kind of see all the perspectives. this is probably the best and most accurate depiction of social media in a book i have seen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Toxic relationship, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Bullying

em815ily's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

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

bionicfox666's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

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

artrobot5000's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, and Toxic friendship

carmina_r's review against another edition

dark sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racism

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