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Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Blood
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit
Make the tiniest girl who ever girled (who is way too young but also maybe not) be mortally humiliated performing such tasks as walking, taking off a shoe, being greeted by dogs, and sitting down on a bus. Make her take not one, but TWO, embarrassing unplanned showers at the home of the boy she likes. Make sure she unintentionally exposes her body to him a lot. Her clothes must keep falling off or up or open or down. Tell us more about how much sex he has had, which is A LOT in case you were wondering, and how many orgasms he has had in the past few months, which is NONE. Tell us again how she’s never been kissed. Make it weird. Obviously assume none of these girls are having orgasms.
When Shannon and Johnny do communicate, make sure it is exclusively in apologies and/or projections (her) and grunts and/or groans (him). Make sure they never address anything directly but instead do all sorts to make things more confusing and to maximize misunderstanding. Do it for the plot! Make them have the worst, most useless friends who are willing to let them each straight up die rather than tell the truth to anyone about what’s happening. Make sure he guesses and guesses about her abuser, and still doesn’t think quite hard enough about it to ask why she’s afraid to go home.
Look: I was interested in their home lives. I was interested in her history of trauma and his fear of loss of self. I was interested in the whole plot, actually. I kept getting pulled along by the story BUT THEN it repeated, again, the same internal dialogue, the same childish self-sabotage, the same stubborn cycle over and over and over. And over. With literally the same language. On repeat. Forever.
It comes dangerously close to fetishization of victimization. It makes me uncomfy and it needed an editor. I don’t know if I’ll continue the series, but probably not. Is this just me? Maybe it’s me. But this is the first actual review I’ve written here, so I’m bothered enough to vent.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment