Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

28 reviews

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Cerebral and jarring. I believe to be the best cult themed book I’ve consumed.

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caitlynes91's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

WHEW. wickedly good prose (shoutout to the translator omg?). also wickedly f-ed up. will be thinking about this one for a while.

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matigiuro's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

5.0


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savvylit's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"...the nature of daughters, says the creed, is to jump on the mother, tongue gripped tight in their hands; to survive the jaw to become the jaw; to take the place of the monster - that is, the place of the mother - God who initiated them into the world of desire."

This unsettling novel is about motherhood, daughterhood, girlhood, and feminine power. Ojeda crafts beautifully eerie sentences that are evocative to the point of being cinematic. The coven-like group of girls at the story's center is so deliciously unhinged in a way that only teenage girls can be. Their desire for agency and power is the driving factor in the disturbing choices that they make under Annelise's leadership.

All in all, Jawbone is quite the fever dream. I loved Ojeda's evocative style and discussions of female power & relationships. Ultimately, though, the inconsistent timeline interrupted the flow of this story for me. I don't always feel that books need linear timelines but, in this case, I think that Jawbone would have benefited greatly from that feature.

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morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

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3.5


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aliss_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The author has a twisted mind and i love.

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owlribbon's review against another edition

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challenging dark

4.25


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mlewis's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0


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bunbobabe's review against another edition

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

4.25


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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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I really wanted to love this, and whilst I haven't disliked it, I'm just not that fussed about reading it. So, for the moment, it's a DNF. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and there were some really un-nerving moments. I think I'll come back to this one, I'm just not feeling it right now. 
CW: up to where I read 

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