Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Chlorine

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Chlorine by Jade Song

30 reviews

maxineee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

As a past swimmer, I wish I had read this book in my high school years. Looking back on the sport with such fondness is a refreshing perspective, even with all the bad. My senior season was cut short in 2020 and so I never really got the proper goodbye to my beloved sport. I felt like a piece of me was in this one, and it swam away with Ren Yu the moment the book ended.

Jade Song wrote about the friendships and tough spots that high school athletes are put in that come with the need for academic and extracurricular validation. Despite being a quick read, their story of self acceptance is not one I will soon forget.

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joensign's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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annoyedhumanoid's review

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dark medium-paced

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

3.0

the narrative wasn't cohesive, the writing wasn't my favorite, and the dialogue felt unnatural. i think i wanted more of a revenge story but we didn't really get that.

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ems_bean's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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faeriefangss's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

fuck. that was beautiful. this is easily *the best* book i’ve ever read. not just of 2024, but i think in my life. i actually kind of want to cry now that ive finished it. i also want to cry because of how beautiful it was. i want to cry because i relate to and understand ren so well. i want to cry because jade song’s writing style is orgasmic. i want to cry because this book had all my favourite features - body horror, sapphic romance, perfectionist main character who strives to be the best, mature themes, mixing reality with fantasy and science fiction. this book was pure bliss, and i don’t think i possess the capacity to explain the perfection of this story.

even though this book came out only in 2023, i await patiently yet enthusiastically for jade song’s next book.

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maecaitlin's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

A stunning ballad to perfectionism. Song’s debut novel is beyond impressive. The character of Ren Yu is fascinating as Song does an excellent job of exploring the deep ocean of girlhood. The mermaid identity is a rejection of the weighty expectations placed on Ren - getting into an Ivy League college, maintaining her virginity, pushing down her queerness. Song is empathetic towards these struggles, and it shrines through the book.

As a psychological horror, the setting of a small suburban town creeps in throughout. Ren’s transformation is deeply disturbing. I have certainly never thought about mermaids as a horror device before this. Song is extremely original and I look forward to whatever she writes next.

The only area of development I would like to see is more introspection. Song does a solid job in describing the mixed emotions of experiencing an assault, yet this nuance is not consistent throughout her prose. Many of the male characters are one-note and fall flat as antagonists. Ren and Cathy’s relationship is inconsistent in a way that could be purposeful. However, this inconsistency makes the ending lose weight as a sense of mutual desire and connection is never felt between the two.

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