Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

37 reviews

epiphyte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Brutal and ridden with shame. I loved it, it brought me closer to my own sources of shame and sparked my curiosity about them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Rape, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Addiction

nikylela's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder

augustpeach_'s review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-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

3.75

I enjoyed the frantic, anxious and the flawed aspects from the main female character, mixed with the obvious dose of delusion, panic and the self-awareness toward the self-destruction. Accurately portrays love addiction, anxious/avoidant personalities and attachment styles. 

If you're a fan of complicated characters with unresolved aspects from their lives, 'stream of consciousness-style' writing with short, disjointed thoughts discussed as chapters (glimpses of conversations, scattered/faded memories brought back into light in a self-reflective way, etc.)

I purchased this book and plan on keeping it, due to the writing style alone. As a fan of complicated characters, I feel like there's a second read in my future for this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Addiction

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug use

crawforl's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual content

lilyforever's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Sexual harassment

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-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

Wow, this was incredible. The writing was so raw, vulnerable and personal, and yet utterly intoxicating. 

The book centred on the whirlwind ‘romance’ between the narrator and Ciaran, laying bare the destructive force of obsessive love on the self. The narrator’s point of view, despite being unnamed, was so intimate that you felt everything that she went through. 

Interweaved with the affecting prose was nuanced and edifying commentary on sex, gender, consent, power and patriarchy, the male gaze and the violence of sex. The flash-forwards to 2019 Athens were rich and clear in these perspectives, providing a stunning contrast to the dizziness of the narrator’s thoughts and experiences in the main timeline. 

Overall, a staggering and important debut which left me stewing in thought for a while after.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, and Infidelity

acg2285's review

dark sad 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

shesthunderstorms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, and Rape

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Blood

bersblue's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, and Mental illness

stellabyproxy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

“Mediating your own victimhood is just part of being a woman. Using it or denying it, hating it or loving it, and all of these at once. Being a victim is boring for everyone involved.”

acts of desperation follows a nameless narrator as she falls in obsession with a man named ciaran. we follow her recollection of the fast-paced romance, toxic codependency, abusive control and abrupt ending(s). 

nolan’s writing reads like a frantic train of thought, a private journal, as we take a look at desire, impulsivity, promiscuity, abuse, sexual assault and self-destruction in women (basically, a long list of trigger and content warnings). the complexities of the lenses through which the actions of the protagonist are viewed allows for an unsettling look into the female psyche. nolan has a strong character voice that fully immerses the reader into the storyline, with her choice of an unnamed narrator, written in first person, creating a thin barrier between the story and the readers’ experience. there is much beauty to be found in her commentary on topics of ageism, love, lust, infidelity, mental health and power, making for lots of delicately devastating quotes. 

acts of desperation is perfectly poetic, a beautifully intrusive descent into madness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

Moderate: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, and Sexism

Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, and Death