Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

19 reviews

nickyz's review

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

inkdrinkers's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Oh holy hell, did I ever expect to like this book? No. Did I absolutely fall in love with it? Yes.

Tory and Darcy Vega are twins who haven't had the best of lives - think A Series of Unfortunate Events - but the hits keep coming and they won't stop coming. They managed to flee their abusive foster father and have been stealing and hustling to make ends meet in their hometown of Chicago when suddenly a mysterious man shows up and claims they're the long-lost Fae princesses of a world they've never heard of. And y'all, that's only the first CHAPTER.

I'm going to get what I disliked out of the way first: the formatting of this book is such a hard pill to swallow. Every chapter had a POV from each twin, meaning that chapters feel like they're double the length they actually are because once you finish one twin's POV, you're often thrust back into the other one. They should have cut their losses and split every POV into a new numbered chapter because I genuinely lost where I even was in the book in the middle. Add in some poor editing, the most "we're new to this world and everything is Awful" plotline ever, some truly TERRIBLE actions by the love interests, some very cringe bullying scenes, and you get a nice little cocktail of a miserable reading experience for the first 60% but...

Then you get past that 60% and you suddenly realize why so many people love this.

I'm planning on doing a whole video about this series where I talk about everything in detail - but I'll leave my loves about this book to talking about the fact that it appealed to the tween in me who so deeply craved these kinds of stories. The stories where the characters are just beaten down at every chance and every turn, the stories where you just can't help but feel terrible for the main characters because no one ever gives them a break or throws them a bone, but they never give up. I thought I'd end up disliking both Tory and Darcy for multiple reasons, but instead I found myself absolutely rooting for the two of them every time someone knocked them back a peg and they turned around and kept swinging.

I will say, I think these books will appeal to anyone, like me, who trolled the depths of fanfiction dot net in its heyday. If you sorted by newest fics because you've read all the others before, if you clicked on OC fics because you wanted to experience the character entering this world you loved for the first time again, if you stayed up until 3am reading hundreds of thousands of words and getting lost in the same world, characters, and story just in different fonts and different scenarios - these are for you. 

Onto book two.

A comprehensive video covering the entire Zodiac Academy series will be coming soon from me. I'll update the reviews when I have the link for you all.

content warnings: heavy bullying (a very prominent plot point), child abuse, abuse, sexual content (80% in, light graphic scene), age gap love interest, and some general cringe but once you turn your brain off, it's so much fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Cursing

I tried to tag every content I could remember, but if you're diving into this series, please find a friend who's read them and ask about specific triggers!

lestie4short's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Torture

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

I totally understand why this series is so popular. Tory and Darcy are super compelling characters and the world-building here is insanely complex yet still comprehensible.  Bully romances are really not my thing and all of the magical aspects incorporated into the bullying made the story a bit too intense for my taste.  If you're a fan of bully romance though this probably won't bother you. 

The story isn't a romance, despite romantic elements (bully romance specifically), the book ends on a cliffhanger with no happy relationships in the book.

There are a ton of consent issues in this book. While none of those issues are around sex, the twins have no bodily autonomy whenever a vampire decides to feed on them and no mental autonomy in terms of the coercion magic, and emotional manipulation from the sirens.  These consent issues being brushed off as part of the fae power structure makes sense in the world-building but has the potential to be more triggering than direct violation of sexual consent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Body horror, and Bullying

ka_ke's review

I tried. Like I REALLY tried to like this  series. But I just could not get into it. Maybe it was the horoscopes, maybe it was the basic plot, but it definitely shouldn’t be compared to Harry Potter as an adult version with *spice*. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Body shaming

sipteareadbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

0.25

The worst book I have ever read hands down. It's a shame as the concept is quite good (hence the quarter star) and it had the potential to be a decent read but overall this book is mysoginistic and badly written. We leap from scene to scene with little rhyme or reason; the characters are under developed and unlikeable.The personalities and motivations of the two main characters are lost as the authors drop them into scene after scene of random interactions with the four/five possible love interests. I really wish I could say something redeeming about it but I honestly just regret reading it. There is a scene near the end that made me feel physically sick and viscerally angry.

One of the love interests cuts off one of the MC's hair and has his girlfriend film it and post it on social media. Then her sister is almost drowned to death by a gang of the love interests in front of an audience. And these are the characters the girls have a crush on. It's nothing short of glorified domestic violence. I like a dark love interest but that is only appealing when they're kind to the MC. Really, proceed with caution if you read these books. They are very unpleasant in a way the books do not really condemn since the boys are constantly rewarded with the affection of the MC's and other girls.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Body shaming

donna_bx's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

2.0

Awful. Absolutely awful. I downright HATED the bullying and abuse. It really spoiled what would have been an excellent book if it was differently and didn’t have an OUNCE of ridicule, bullying or  abuse.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment

silvaserendipity's review

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Bullying

binzpr's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence