Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Penance by Eliza Clark

31 reviews

moa's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Child death, and Bullying

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Rape

pilarlopezleiva's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Torture, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide

ermw0's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The rare book where I am hooked by the premise, and then completely sold after the first page. I didn't want to look away while also feeling revulsion for the characters and their awful awful ways. God, how I do not miss being a teenage girl. I thought this was an effective commentary on the true crime fandom, as well as those Tumblr girlies who obsess over real serial killers. This book is graphic, infuriating, scary, repulsive, and addicting. Both a rebuke of the true crime genre and sort of a perfect example how you can create this type of gripping story without exploiting real people and their tragedies. As someone who fell off of true crime simply because of how slimy it made me feel consuming the grief of real people, this was the book that gave me everything I wanted and spoke to some of my own feelings. 

Eliza Clark is now an author who I will read anything she writes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Body horror, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Torture, Addiction, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

katerina_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Bullying, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Homophobia, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

cabeswaters's review against another edition

challenging dark

5.0

Tumblr was an awful website.

seriously blew me away. an insight into small town communities, tumblr in the mid 2010s, dark corners of the internet, childhood trauma, and the tension and toxicity betwen teenage girls, all filtered through a quite meta criticism of true crime storytelling. gave me some quite strong flashbacks. i want to eat it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Suicide

kitfkat's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Torture, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Addiction

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Dementia, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Abortion, and Xenophobia

natalieee_s's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

bethsreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Penance is a disturbing and macabre fictional true crime novel ‘written’ by a disgraced journalist about three girls murdering their schoolmate in a small seaside town. 

One of the novel’s focal points is exploring the ethics of the true crime genre, particularly the exploitative aspects. A true crime story is so easy to get pulled into, as it offers some of the most extreme and disturbing corners of humanity; but it is important to stop and think: how true is true? Having two writers of the book, Clark herself and the journalist in the story writing the book, adds an extra layer of authorial distortion, demanding you constantly question the legitimacy and trustworthiness of every word you consume.

I particularly love writing that refuses to sit idly within binaries and instead adventures around all the boundaries of a topic, and this book does that. From the subject matter, it seems like there would be an obvious right and wrong, and while there is in the grand scheme of things, the layers and nuances offer a much more complex story. Clark, in my opinion, is quite clear in her stances, but they are thoughtful, balanced opinions that filter in through the story while still leaving room for personal moral engagement as the reader. 

I think Clark also does a fantastic job of depicting teenage-hood, especially in the mid 2010s, and the involvement of the internet at the time. Tumblr basically being a main character really transported me back to what teenage life was like in 2015.  

I did feel like there was perhaps some unnecessary historical backstory to the town, which did enrich the story and make it feel like a real place, but felt somewhat too much at times and I think some parts could’ve been edited down to streamline things a little. 

Overall this was an incredible story and one I’ll be thinking about for a long time! As a warning though, please be sure to check the content warnings first as it covers some difficult topics (though I believe it handles them all well and with respect). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Misogyny, Drug use, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, Suicide, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder and Vomit

sarahrosebooknook's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was interestingly done as it modeled a true crime documentary. The amount of things that I learned about teens and the depths of the internet make me really afraid for my kids in the future. I probably would have rates it a 4.5 but the last 50 pages or so are packed with so many trigger warnings. It left me with a knot in my stomach. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Pedophilia, Drug use, Rape, Animal death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Violence

matilda_holroyd_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

Not my style of book dark and depressing and was hoping for a big twist that didn’t come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Violence, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Self harm, Body horror, Gore, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Death, Hate crime, Body shaming, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault