Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Penance by Eliza Clark

76 reviews

nicole__reads's review

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

A gruesome, extraordinary novel that delivers a multifaceted critique of the pop culture true crime obsession, with a story that pulls you in and requires reflecting on your own engagement with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

rallythealli's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Holy shit, such an intriguing look into true crime, the effects it can have and how being a teenage girl is awful. Fascinating and horrifying. Check the trigger warnings for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

tallhousecookies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide

abi_laura's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings

ginagray's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

bek_p87's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

This was dark, twisted, and thought-provoking on several levels. Presented as a non-fiction true-crime book about a horrific fictional murder in a small seaside town, this is about evil, our fascination with it, and how capitalism monetises this fascination. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

mookisbooks's review

dark sad tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

opldxblqo's review

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

I am exactly the demographic for this book: late 20s white woman who spent considerable time on Tumblr in the early 2010s; this book would have fallen short if not for lighting up the teenage nostalgia centers of my brain with its references to the edgy internet culture of my morbid youth (No, I wasn't ever in a serial killer fandom, but I ate up true crime and occasionally looked at "pro ana" blogs with a horrified outsider's fascination). Any reader who missed out on the absolute chum bucket that was Tumblr in the early 2010s (lucky you!) will likely be bored by large chunks of this book.
Despite its heavy reliance on niche internet nostalgia, what Clark gets right in Penance is the critical look at the culture of violence entertainment in true crime media. Penance asks readers to look inward at their rubber-necking voyeurism without scolding; asks readers to question the motives of true crime content creators, and understand that this content more often than not retraumatizes victims' families. Though this exact critique has been explored many times through fiction in the last couple of years in novels such as I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (blah), and Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (five starts!), Penance does so much more thoroughly through the use of metanarrative. The sections of prose are well written and each character feels fully fleshed and complex; a delightful surprise after Clark's disappointing first novel, Boy Parts.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

jhansell's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual violence