Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Паперовий палац by Miranda Cowley Heller

22 reviews

chispita's review against another edition

reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

ju_harue's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Eu não sabia nem do que se tratava a história, e acho que foi uma ótima opção (a menos que tenha sensibilidade a alguns gatilhos, aí recomendo procurar sobre, eu deixo no StoryGraph).
A forma como a narrativa mescla momentos intensos, com uma narrativa intimista e que me lembrou Um lugar bem longe daqui, com atmosfera bucólica e melancólica.
Ao se passar em 1 dia, mas a narrativa alterna entre passado e presente, é tão bem desenvolvida, que fica impossível largar, embora seja um calhamaço.
Um recorte de uma vida e das gerações de uma família e os acontecimentos que permeiam e refletem em atitudes, com um Palácio de Papel ao fundo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming

imds's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent

michelle_mc96's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, and Fatphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol

thewordapothecary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

Mostly I’m just confused. Why the hell did I just read an entire book to basically have no closure for the main plot. There’s unnecessary trauma included in the book that totally could’ve been left out. Elle is the unluckiest character, and I know that bad things happen to lots of people… but her life was one bad thing after the other. She’s a bad person. The one good thing that’s ever happened in her life and she acts like she could easily give it up. The only thing saving this book from a one star is the last handful of chapters and even that is a stretch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

abi_sarah's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

<spoilers in this review> 

Overall I enjoyed this book for it’s immersive nature, the descriptions of the settings made it so easy to escape to the seaside with Elle and her family and follow her story intently. 

However, it took me a while to read because I wasn’t gripped by it, I was intrigued but not gripped. The urge to pick up the book was only there to carry on reading - for the escapism, not because I absolutely had to know what happened next. 

This book reminded me of the familial dramas of ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ by Celeste Ng. I am coming to realise that I really enjoy novels with imperfect families, reading about how they communicate during times of conflict and what circumstances can push familial ties to breaking point. 

Miranda Cowley Heller writes excellently about the truly awful realities of rape. Including that the perpetrator is nearly always someone the victim knows, and what’s worse - someone the victim knows well. This circumstance makes the aftermath for the victim all the more difficult to deal with. Heller describes Elle’s trauma and the way she deals with it in the most matter of fact, yet sympathetic way. Some parts of this book were honestly extremely hard to read, it all just felt so real, so painful. As the reader, I developed so much sympathy for Elle. 

When Elle finally tells her mother who the real perpetrator of her rape was, you can literally feel her release of breath through the pages. You feel her shoulders relax and her brow flatten. 

I would have given this 5 stars, but there were parts where I just wasn’t fussed one way or the other if I picked it back up to read. So it’s a 4 star for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming and Dementia

talyahonor23's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

While I enjoyed the reading this book and the writing style, I hated every single character.  Why did shegave to go into so much deatil with the child abuse? Even the adult sex scenes were either violent or too explicit.  And Why was everyone so rich and so beautiful? The only one who is considered neither is poor Gina. There was also a lot of sexual violence against most females characters as well as everyone leading very shitty lives. Was no one allowed ro be happy for real? I hate cheaters but I was intrigued by their story. The author is a little dated...using butter on a burn has been considered an old wives tale for years. Her obsession with meat and dairy is also a little out of touch. But it was an easy and interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

daniela_is_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark sad

• Loveable characters? No

3.25

Please read trigger warning before picking this book up.

There's a theme of sexual abuse throughout the book, and it's quite confronting. What fell short for me is my inability to actually like any of the characters, which is upsetting. Nevertheless, i still didn't mind the read, I just felt frustrated. And....., maybe that's the point. It's complex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

lbh_0327's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

skibbonboulash's review against another edition

slow-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

Let’s make the main characters childhood as traumatizing as possible then have a climax that is meaningless because you’re numb to trauma by then and then finish off with an underwhelming resolution and conclusion. You can tell the author writes for HBO (not a compliment)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism