Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

24 reviews

readbycarina's review

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Alcohol, Death, and Pregnancy

lucinotlucy's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

stevienielson's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Body shaming

katiezew's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

There were some parts like the acting exercises that I loved to read about, but after the first third of the book it was so hard to get through. The characters were horrible which made it worse. Important topic lost within an unnecessarily long read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcohol and Gun violence

skipabeat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

Unsettling, dark, and depressing—but I really enjoyed the writing quality and the switch-up of POV in the middle of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Sexual violence

jesakeita's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Gun violence

bettydraper's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

i don't know what to think but i do know that i'm feeling very sad/hopeless with that ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence

moosycakes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 wouldn't really say I "enjoyed" reading this book, although it was very well written. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style personally, although the layout of the book was pretty genius. There were a lot of uncomfortable scenes to read and this isn't a book I would feel comfortable recommending widely due to the topics covered. I'd suggest checking some content warnings before reading if you have anything you find particularly difficult to read about.

I think I'm glad to have read this book, it does have some important (harrowing) messages and the relationships between the different perspectives of the characters will have me thinking about this book for a long time.

You may struggle with following some of the story if you get easily confused, I found that sometimes the coherency of the plot and what was actually happening came second to the writing style and use of detailed description/imagery. While some of that issue can be explained by the writing style being chosen and changed to serve the story and the differing narrative styles, sometimes it went a bit over what would be necessary for that end, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, and Gun violence

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide

collinsshaym's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

leah_alexandra's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was pretty rough. It's tough to talk about my reactions without spoilers, so most of my review is hidden. 

I had been told there was a big "twist" in the book, but I was honestly pretty disappointed. The first part of the book actually being a fictionalized book a student wrote was not as dramatic a twist as I thought it would be. And I don't know if the author meant for the shooting at the end of "Karen's" part of the book to be a surprise, but it was apparent from miles away. The last, very small piece of the book was vague, and not in a way that made it more intriguing. Just added to some general frustrations with the book. Sarah's story was pretty exhausting--it really leaned into the trope of special teens being somehow more mature than their years. I was less frustrated by that piece once I knew what it was, but the second half of the book didn't do enough to make up for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Vomit