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A fantastic book, well written. We follow the strange story of Sally Diamond and begin to understand why, when her dad told her to put him out with the rubbish when he passed away, she did just that!!
A tragically sad back story and strong character development we begin to understand why Sally is the way she is! But could her story have been different if she’d got the treatment she needed earlier??
A brilliant read by Liz Nugent who captures the eccentricity’s perfectly without making light of a tragic start to her life. I will definitely be reading more books from Liz!!
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Initially the book focuses on how ‘strange’ Sally is. Her dad claims if she’d be diagnosed she’d likely be autistic, but he never wanted her to be diagnosed as she’s ‘just a little odd’ she’s not disabled (not an exact quote, but something along those lines). He also throws in some more stereotypes, about her not having empathy for instance. Gradually you realise Sally acts the way she does out of trauma, but many traits could be perceived as being autistic. She finds clothes itchy (although this suddenly isn’t an issue anymore later in this book?), has meltdowns over ‘minor’ things, and has a specific interest which helps her calm down. Initially you’re lead to believe Sally is ‘strange’ because she’s simply an autistic woman, but gradually you learn of her trauma. Autism therefore gets pushed to the background until gradually she’s just seen as a person working through her trauma. I therefore wish autism wasn’t brought up in this book at all. It served no purpose but instead reinforced stereotypes of autistic people. Lots of the ‘funnier’ scenes in this book are about Sally not understanding social cues, for instance. And it gives a sense that you can be cured if you just keep trying not to be. If autism hadn’t been mentioned at the start, Sally’s story would’ve made more sense to me.
So yeah, I ‘enjoyed’ the story, found the ending really satisfying as well actually and felt like it made sense for the characters. It was dark and gruesome, but some of the characters brought a ray of light with them which made it possible to keep reading. I just wish Sally’s character wouldn’t have been labelled as one way or another and that we could focus on her PTSD instead.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia
Minor: Gun violence, War
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic