Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino

5 reviews

owenwilsonbaby's review

hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

‘The nature of a revelation is that you don't have to re-experience it; you don't even have to believe whatever is revealed to hang on to it for as long as you want. In the seventies, researchers believed that MDMA treatment would be discrete and limited—that once you got the message, as they put it, you could hang up the phone. You would be better for having listened. You would be changed. They don't say this about religion, but they should.’

I really enjoyed this, particularly the essays ‘The I in Internet,’ ‘Ecstasy,’ ‘The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams,’ and ‘We Come From Old Virginia.’ Tolentino’s writing style is sharp and her voice is compelling. She often articulated feelings I’ve had about the internet, for example, with shocking ease and extraordinary understanding, in a way that I never could. 

I struggled with one small part at the end of ‘The Cult of the Difficult Woman,’ where I felt there was a less evenly-weighted mixture of grace and criticism directed towards Hillary Clinton - it felt very idolising and a bit uncomfortable to read when the rest of the book was so nuanced, thoughtful and critical. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Racism, and Rape

czarra's review

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

camoo3032's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

3.75

The first half was a bit of a struggle to get through but I thoroughly enjoyed the second half. My biggest criticism would be that she often recounts information or includes personal tales that are tangential to the point that she's trying to make. I also fear that aspects of this book will lose their relevance the further away we get from the Trump Administrative 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming, Genocide, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Abortion, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Sexual content, Transphobia, Classism, Slavery, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Infidelity, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, War, and Fire/Fire injury

jenniferpalmblad's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

orlagal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Homophobia