Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Marked by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

19 reviews

lori_h's review against another edition

3.0

I wouldn't be happy for a teenager to read this - it hasn't aged well. It's littered with fatfobia and the R word. It stereotypes gay men and people with a country accent. But as someone who's nearly 40, I lived through the era already so can ignore those bits. It's lighthearted fluff to read before going to sleep.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Ableism

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

There's nothing really wrong with the story; it's vampires. It's high school. It's a very surface-level fun time. No real substance or development to be had here. Honestly, if it weren't for the rampant amount of body-shaming and slut-shaming, this book would've been a whole lot better, and I would've given it a better rating. I won't even get into the use of rude language (really didn't age well, book) and the extremely problematic views this book pushes about sex, especially regarding girls and sex. Don't forget the light sprinkle of racism and homophobia.

The MC is very shallow and has a pretty bad case of not-like-other-girls. But she's 16, and this book came out in 2007. Let's hope she grows as a person; there's 11 more books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Religious bigotry, Blood, Body shaming, and Bullying

Minor: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Homophobia

_rowantree_'s review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Bullying

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, and Child death

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Ableism, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Incest, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

joklo's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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? It's complicated

2.0

Attempts at diversity are really just stereotypes and tropes. Very, very cringey humor and a wildly unlikable not-like-other-girls heroine. Wanted to reread the series because I really remember liking them in like junior high and while the plot is interesting, all the snark and cringey asides made this a painful albeit quick read. Multiple uses of r****d as an insult as well as body shaming and slut shaming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Child abuse

sar_bear's review against another edition

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

I don't think I've ever read a book/series this bad. I could not finish the series despite being given most of the books as a gift. The writing in general is just horrible (good news is that it makes others feel so much better about their own writing), and the main character is so unlikeable it feels purposeful. I could talk about the problematic things with the series but I don't think I have enough time in my day to cover everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Eating disorder

honeybakedreads's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

The last time I read this series was back when it came out and I have grown significantly as a human since then. I came back to read it again and actually finish the series to see how it ends and it's been painfully difficult to continue. So many slurs, so much slut shaming. It's very early 2000's southern highschool. And I say that as someone currently living in the city where the series takes place. I definitely understand why the series isn't recommended by many.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Classism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Ableism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Cultural appropriation

jcue_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Religious bigotry, and Blood

msradiosilence's review against another edition

I’m 95 pages in, and the last book I DNF’d was Allegiant 9 years ago, but I fucking CANNOT with this book.

First of all, way to whitewash your main “native” character. Very SMeyer of you. How is it that the other POC character (Shaunee, a black woman) is allowed to have ‘mocha’/‘chocolate’ skin but Zoey goes from ‘tanned’ to ‘pale white’ hm? Sounds very…cultural appropriative, no?

For a book that has a gay character and a black character in the main cast, this book was *checks notes* fatphobic, transphobic, racist, and slut shame-y all in the first 8 pages! And it only gets worse!! This is why I fucking DNFed, because there is much better shit out there.

The writing was annoying as fuck, Zoey was super judgmental and annoying as fuck, all the other characters were shallow and annoying as fuck…did I mention how annoyed I was with this book?

I read it back in middle school (and bc of the blow job scene in the beginning was subsequently banned from reading it) but as an adult I’ve been going through a nostalgia period and this was one of the books I wanted to revisit. Honestly, thanks Mom and Dad for sparing me from the rest of this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

nick13's review

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

2.25

Ok, let me say this first, this book is not very good. Now that that's over with, let me also say that this book is also really damn good! Not in the good way, but because the writing is so bad it's really enjoyable. One minute characters are cussing and calling people sluts and then the main character says someone is poopy, like, wtf! 
Along side this terrible writing, the beginning is so rushed it gives me whiplash and the main character a hollow bitch who thinks they are awful yet amazing! Yet, I enjoyed almost every moment of this book! There are so many things wrong with it and the rip-off of Twilight it starts out as yet the rip-off of Harry Potter it ends as is so bizarre that I can't help but love it. That and the characters, love interests, and the actually kind of intriguing plot at the end just kept hooking me in! 
I'm giving this book a 2.25 solely due to the bad pacing, bad writing techniques, and overall terribleness of this book, but I will continue this story because it a 2 star read that feels like a 4!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Alcohol, Drug use, and Homophobia

another_badger's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

1.5

Marked does have a couple of interesting elements, such as the use of mythology and elemental magic, it becomes a lot of the characters are drowning under the weight of being some of the most gratuitous stereotypes imaginable.  The main character is also extremely inconsistent to a frustrating degree. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment and Body shaming

There is a large amount of slut-shaming which can be very uncomfortable.