Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

8 reviews

selmv's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

2.75

the end cldve been less predictable n a bit better , but i feel like thats an unfair thing 2 say when it reflects th harsh (yet as good as it can get) reality that women have 2 live . . life is unsatifsying as a woman (especially as a woman who is very inescapably conditioned by patriarchy)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Sexism, Eating disorder, Vomit, Self harm, and Alcoholism

lizzardbreath's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

The ending of the novel was one that left me with mixed feelings. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because it’s one I feel like I need to sit in. I finished it last night and I’m still thinking about it and how it commentates on society through a feminist perspective. I would say that the main character’s monologue at the end was a message for the reader rather than one for herself. I was proud of her for finally being able to break that toxic cycles of abuse that she endured all her life, but it wasn’t in a way that made me jump for joy at her freedom. It was liberating in a very mellow sense and I think there should be more awareness on that, on how getting out of toxic/abusive relationships isn’t always a dramatic and happy ending, but rather one that feels like a fresh of breath air, knowing that there’s finally peace that in some ways, you still need to actively fight for. This is the first story I’ve read where the author did a great job in letting the reader inside the mind of someone who is currently suffering through a toxic/abusive relationship and the complicated feelings that come with it. There were times where I actually felt sympathy for her abuser even when I knew he’s the one that committed the ultimate evil. Overall, I would say this novel has a profound take on feminism, the struggles of women and their relationships with men, and the interesting psychology of a person in a toxic/abusive cycle (relationships or with themselves).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Drug use

Minor: Vomit

marissab's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Drug use, Rape, Mental illness, Blood, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit and Medical content

kajasversion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.5

I think the writing is magnificent and i truly did enjoy reading it. Some scenes were a bit too much for me personally, but not in a sense that they were bad, just that they were really gruesome and a bit hard to read. I think it’s an interesting portrayal of love that isn’t good for any party involved. I wasn´t rooting for any of the characters, but i did feel deep pain for how the mc was feeling because i think that her emotions and her view of the relationship and herself were so beautifully transferred onto paper.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Self harm

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Vomit

adrianascala's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

interpersonalbs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Alcoholism

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

This book...oh, my God. She's short, but she packs a fucking punch. "Acts of Desperation" follows an unnamed narrator who on the first page meets a man and falls into a "brief, all-consuming" romance with him before he abruptly dumps her. She resolves to get him back and keep him by any means necessary, even if it means degrading and destroying herself.

The writing in this book is so beautiful and harsh at the same time. I highlighted so much in this book, such a range of lines: lines that I related to, lines that I thought were interesting, lines that made this character make sense to me (because she often did not, which made her seem painfully real).

Through this narrator's voice, the reader is exposed to her confessional, her literal desperation for male attention and male love, her love addiction, her mental illness. The way at times, this man she claimed to love so fully did not even seem like someone she liked, and yet she simply couldn't be without him- without *someone* in general - God. You have a front row seat to all of it and it is sometimes so brutal that one must set the book down and just decompress.

However, in the brutality of this narrative, there are moments so poignant and relatable that I couldn't get my highlighter/pen cap off fast enough to highlight or annotate. There were parts of this that also felt too smart for me, things that didn't and do not make sense to me still, and I don't know if that's because I'm not smart enough or if it's just a reflection of what a mess this character is?

Overall, obviously, I loved this. I loved the commentary and chronicling of this woman's case of love addiction & other things throughout that I won't mention at the risk of giving things away inadvertently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Death, Suicide, Abandonment, Rape, Alcohol, Vomit, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Drug use, Violence, Eating disorder, Stalking, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Dementia, Murder, and Classism

peachani's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Fatphobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Medical content, Sexism, and Vomit