Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

17 reviews

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

The narrator of Acts of Desperation is one of the most self-hating and self-destructive characters that I have encountered in fiction. The central relationship in this book is so toxic that I found it painful to experience as a reader. However, Megan Nolan manages to make this deeply depressing story stay compelling and all-too-real throughout. 

Another testament to Nolan's talent is how easy I found it to empathize with her narrator's acts of desperation - despite being simultaneously devastated by them. Ultimately, I normally love a dark book but maybe this was too realistically dark for me. Check the content warnings before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

This is a painful read. It follows a character in an abusive relationship. The needing, longing, self destructive feelings are some that many people could relate to. The character finds herself watching what she's doing from outside her body, wondering why she is accepting this horrible pain... and then convinces herself that she must accept this "love" as it is all she is worth. I especially connected to the character's constant need for validation, especially from those who are hurting her the most. 

All in all, an exceptional read. Painful and sad, but truly brilliant. Put into words the experiences that many of us sadly go through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

sib_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Blood

Minor: Pedophilia

rkpitch1234's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

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

3.0

it was interesting an interesting look into toxic and violent relationships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

amina_el's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

skyealexandra's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

one of those books that i absolutely adored but never want to reread 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Dementia, Murder, and Classism