Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom

14 reviews

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional 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

1.0

Very preachy and unpleasant writing, a lot of mean spirited railing against straw libfems the author imagines on Instagram. The #MeToo plotline is poorly integrated and resolves in a stupid, nothing way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Cancer, Eating disorder, Medical content, Rape, Vomit, Addiction, Classism, Sexual content, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Excrement, Self harm, and Car accident

stellahadz's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

Aesthetica is both futuristic and deeply rooted in the present, which sounds contradictory but isn't really, given how quickly the landscape of social media changes and how trends, from clothing to makeup to body parts, seem to cycle every week. The book's premise is fascinating, and Rowbottom's prose is excellent. I'm usually wary of books that heavily reference social media or internet slang, because it immediately dates the text and runs the risk of making it obsolete within a few years. However, I think Aesthetica works because its themes (#MeToo, the dangers of social media fame, plastic surgery, and generational differences in approaches to feminism) are very timely, and the use of emojis, @ symbols, and slang actually drive the story rather than making it "cringe" as the kids say. I wonder how many articles, memoirs, and tell-all pieces we'll see in the next 10-15 years from people like the main character, Anna.

It took me some time to get into the story, and I wish the ending had provided a little more closure, but it was fantastically written and I loved how it explored important and relevant themes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death of parent, and Drug use

Moderate: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Cancer, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident

christina_and125's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Addiction, Death of parent, and Drug use

wichbich's review

dark emotional reflective fast-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

3.0

Mom death

. This is a huge theme of the book that is not hinted at at all in the description so please proceed with caution as it could be quite triggering. I was not expecting to encounter this at all but I would say it encompasses the bulk of the story. 

This was an interesting book with an interesting idea. I would say the experience of the narrator is very specific and I don't agree with her a lot of the time. That doesn't make her wrong but her voice is often sort of grandiose as she discusses ideas of universal morals so it does feel a but like being fed a worldview. 

Overall this book feels like less of a narrative and more like a reflection on loss, trauma, and image in the midst of an attempt to realign oneself through even more trauma (and some light stalking). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Drug use

Moderate: Chronic illness, Rape, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Addiction, Medical content, Self harm, Alcoholism, Body horror, Grief, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident and Vomit

lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Medical trauma, Vomit, Eating disorder, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Drug use, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body horror, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Sexual content, and Cancer

Minor: Car accident and Infertility

tigger89's review

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is a lot in a very small package. I went into it thinking it would be more of a sci-fi medical horror title, but there was very little focus on the Aesthetica procedure itself. Rather, the focus of the story was on Anna's descent into social media addiction, body alteration and abuse. Aesthetica was an off-screen plot device, a method by which to press a magical reset button.

Something I appreciated about this title was how realistic the portrayal of social media addiction was, specifically the slide into seeing everything — no matter how personal — as something to be exploited for internet points. I've never gone for instagram, but I've experienced enough dopamine hits on other platforms to recognize the danger there. She was also spot-on when describing diet culture, particularly how it's passed inter-generationally from mother to daughter. The way this was written was chilling enough that it could be a source of horror to some, though it was a little too close to my own experiences growing up for it to land that way for me.

I don't think that I agree with what appears to be the author's message, that women can't be truly empowered when under misogynistic influences — which is all of us, everywhere, all the time. But this argument winds up removing agency from the oppressed even as it claims to protect it, as it merely replaces those harmful influences with a different set of boilerplate rules for "how to be empowered," which might not be a good fit for every individual! I think the concerns raised in this book are good to be aware of, as it certainly is a thing that happens, but there's no clear answer here with regard to what to actually do to fight this effect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Grief, Rape, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Infertility

jaimee_reads's review

dark sad slow-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

2.75

I feel like the book box I got this from mis-represented the book. This book is not about the procedure. The procedure is covered in a single paragraph about 2/3 of the way through the book. This is about a very specific 6 month or so period of Anna's life that is supposed to give the reader an idea of why she wanted this procedure. It seemed very tech dystopian when I was reading the summary, but it's not. It's very literary and sad. I love the author's writing, but this isn't what I expected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Alcohol, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Grief, Body shaming, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Rape, Misogyny, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Gore, Body horror, Cancer, Bullying, and Chronic illness

mondovertigo's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Rape, Body shaming, Cancer, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

freshprincessofmelayers's review

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Addiction

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Rape

mamawantsbooks's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.75

This book should have either been heavily edited or shorter than the 256 pages it was. It felt like it tried to have two different stories but wait let’s and a third and maybe a fourth story and have no satisfying ending. It just reminded me that social media is fake and curated, that “perfect” bodies aren’t real, and you shouldn’t take your mother for granted. Or something. Disappointing read.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Rape, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Addiction