Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

21 reviews

baguettekelly's review

challenging dark mysterious

3.25

Girl……it’s so confusing sometimes to be a girl 

This book is interesting but definitely not for everyone.  The style is quite challenging and makes for a slow read of a short book.  I found myself zoning out during Clara’s chapters and wanting to get back to whatever freak shit Fernanda and Annelise were up to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Kidnapping

oliviapincin's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism

mondovertigo's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Lesbophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Gun violence

meika_one's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book is very atmospheric and literary.  It explores the emotional substrate of how people process fear and terror.  There aren't any supernatural elements, so it read as psychological thriller to me.  Similar to Apt Pupil, but more cosmic.  It skates on the blade edge of innocence.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

seawarrior's review

dark tense

5.0

Endlessly disturbing and breathtakingly creative, Jawbone is a story of adolescent daring and purity that descends into violence. Ojeda's use of language, bodily disgust, and topical pop culture references create a story that is unique to the point of mythological. The horror draws the reader in and then clamps down its teeth, culminating in an ending soaked in madness and terror. One of the greatest horror stories I've ever read, and not recommended for the faint of heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Death of parent, Outing, and Sexual harassment

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

Darkly feverdream-like, yet horrifyingly real. This one is for the feral girls. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

raisinreads's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

Toxic gay relationship!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

hi_im_tate's review

dark mysterious reflective tense 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

3.75

I loved the formatting of this book. The few reviews I skimmed over didn't mention it. There are chapters that are like regular chapter books, full of text, and then there are chapters that are formatted more like interviews. The chapters, also, jump between characters and past and present. If that isn't something you like, I suggest not reading this book. There were times were it was hard to read because it felt like the sentences just went on and on and on with several words that confused me and were hard to pronounce.

Now, onto the contents of this book. I can see why people call this book "gross". It does explore some intense kinks (biting, blood, guns) with minors, but I thought it was done in a good way when they were CONSENSUAL! Reading about minors doing some of these things did gross me out, but I also have to remember that this stuff in real life already. That was another this that made me enjoy this book. The things that happened in this book have happened and will happen in real life. It makes it much more harder to swallow. Looking at the relationships between the girls reminded me of my relationships with friends growing up (though, not as intense). Having a friendship with a group like this, where two are deemed the "leaders" and one an "outcast" really describes adolescent female friendships well in my experience. Growing up with one person all your life makes the two of you merge together in a way you wouldn't have thought possible before. 

The descent into psychosis felt real to me, even though I have never experienced it. The repetitive movements, the noticing small details, and the panic that is ever encompassing a person made ME feel like I was in her shoes. I could hold empathy for her because of what had happened to her and how she "learned" to deal with it.

The dealing of the religious trauma was probably my favorite part. Denying your sexuality, forming something you can actually believe in, questioning everything you've learned about the religion you were raised as. It definitely sheds light on how religion can fuck someone up.

The imagery from this book was wonderfully grotesque. It was a book I didn't want to put down; not necessarily because it was so good, but because I wanted the answers hidden in the pages. And I still don't feel satisfied with what I got 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

paperknotbooks's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Excrement

savvylit's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail