Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Penance by Eliza Clark

30 reviews

signeskov's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This is a novel who plays with genre successfully and asks the right questions to its audience, content, and the right of the genre to even exist.

What is it that fascinates us about true crime? Why has this grown as a trend in recent years? Are the books any better than the podcasts? What role does fiction play in the account of the non-fictional? And, most interestingly to me, what does fan culture and online fellowship mean to the consumption of true crime?

As one final interviewer of the fictional author of the novel, Penance, prompted:

“You essentially made the story of her daughter’s murder into an entertaining piece of fiction. It’s like you saw a number of primary sources and had contact with people who knew the girls, and you proceeded to more or less write fanfiction about the case. How do you square that with [your] idea of [writing] emotional truth?”

I don’t have any answers to any of the questions I asked above, but I do know that this novel moved me to think critically about the true crime genre in a way I hadn’t before. I don’t consume much true crime content, but either way the premise of this novel drew me in. The fascination of three girls being able to do something so terrible warrants a human need to understand why such a thing might have happened. I even found myself googling whether this case was actually real or fictional - Eliza Clark’s case in point with writing this novel, really.

This was a really interesting read for me as someone who was around the same age as these fictional girls when the events took place. I was also on Tumblr and part of some of their more innocent fandoms like Glee. I know only too well what a ridiculous place Tumblr was in building community though intense aesthetic, fanfiction and shipping cultures. 

While I didn’t see much toxicity in the Tumblr strands I was in at the time, I’m sure that looking back now that it was. It makes you think: if I had had less of a secure childhood and teenage years, could I have become part of these dark sides of the community and have its content fuel my emotions with even more angst and anger? Most likely, yes. I imagine many young girls could have been prone to that.

The final point about a new fandom being built around Jodie’s murder really drove the nail into the coffin of Eliza Clark’s point on genre.

In the end, this book left me thinking and will sit with me for some time. That’s always a good thing when that happens. I recommend the audio book version of this as well - the characterization of the main character’s voices are something that engages you but also encourages you to stay a critical listener as well as reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Self harm, Rape, Outing, Murder, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexism, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Blood

arayo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Child abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Racism, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Kidnapping

Minor: Xenophobia, Cursing, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Animal cruelty

cadence99's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

What a VISCERAL experience of a book as a woman who grew up online in the 2010’s- this has so many elements that made it a perfect read for me: the most unreliable narrator, niche tumblr cringe, and true crime community critique. This is definitely a unique experience of a book that I wouldn’t recommend to just anyone BUT it worked SO well for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Body horror, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Homophobia, Alcohol, Torture, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Body shaming, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Police brutality

lweezthereadrat's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

The premise made me pick this up because true crime makes me squirm- it was interesting to see it pastiched and dissected. I would've loved some more of the interview/aftermath of the book in the book being published, the last ten pages were exhilarating. The main meat of the book is also gripping but very grim- I was seriously worried I wouldn't be able to stomach Penance after the first twenty pages but luckily Clark doesn't linger on the unpleasant details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Blood, and Fatphobia

nialystic's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, Toxic friendship, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Rape, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Torture, Classism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Self harm, Stalking, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Outing

whoisrois's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

books written for me specifically 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Ableism, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol, Racism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Rape, Fatphobia, Classism, and Medical trauma

laran_s's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Torture, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Ableism, and Classism

caissa_chthonia's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I absolutely loved it. It made me happy, it made me angry, I had a great time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Rape

nicole__reads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A gruesome, extraordinary novel that delivers a multifaceted critique of the pop culture true crime obsession, with a story that pulls you in and requires reflecting on your own engagement with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Gun violence, Self harm, Child death, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, and Sexual assault

erikoo's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore