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ninahuynh's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
ola_oreiba's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Reading Acts of Desperation felt like someone with ADHD that has to sit though someone telling them a bad story ever so slowly, it triggers all their senses and turns into pure rage.
At times, I really wanted to sympathize with her and there were a couple of paragraphs and moments/thoughts towards the end that I vaguely agreed with but it couldn’t justify the prolonged and continued suffering for nothing.
It annoyed me how the story was chaotic but predictable at the same time although I cannot fault the writing stylistically. It’s just the whole idea of the book is just pushing how desperate someone can be and how deep into desperation they can go and I think in that sense Megan Nolan is a completionist. Nobody can be more desperate.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
frostedpetals's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use and Eating disorder
Minor: Vomit
bloodroses's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder and Self harm
estella44's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Quotes I loved:
"I was not without value, but the value I held was not the kind I wanted to hold, and I did not know how to exchange it."
"In fact, I wanted to want them, would have loved to live a life like that. Or rather I would have loved to appear to live a life like that. All the things that Lisa did for her own genuine pleasure were things I thought looked good, things I didn’t want for their own sake. I thought a life that looked that way– clean and gentle and high- minded– would get me what I truly wanted, which was to do with having as much of people as possible, their attention, their desire, their curiosity."
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence
seizuredreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
FL is complicated. Yes, it’s probable to say that her thoughts and reasoning are hard to follow, but I guess that’s the human condition at such an age, in said situations. Mind her life could’ve gotten far worse than her choices had led her.
While this is a determining factor of DNF qualifications, I implore the few to power through. Interestingly reflective as FL comes to her own in the world.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
literary_fey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
tmosley5's review
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence
xelasrecords's review
- 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
You hate me, I thought sometimes, when you see me drink or cry or cut myself, but you don’t hate me in the right way. Your disgust is domesticated. I fear that your distaste is that of your average husband – not the glittering and sexual kind you used to show me when you looked down at me, before I won you.
The unnamed early twentysomething narrator goes through a turbulent relationship with a closed-off man who treats her like she's nothing and she believes him. She's naive, moony and defines her life through Ciaran; she segregates it as "before Ciaran" where everything is grey and lacking, and "after" where love explodes her life into a beautiful supernova.
If you've ever been in a relationship where you feel like you have to constantly beg for even the most meagre attention from your partner and never know where you stand on their priority list, but you can't tell anyone because you don't know how to explain it without being criticised because you still love your partner above all... watch out. This book will give you a war flashback. But read it anyway. You might feel understood by how detailed Megan Nolan writes the emotions and insecurities that aren't always easy to admit.
This book feels intimate, like I'm reading someone's diary. The feelings and the observations of them are so precise that I can resonate with them deeply. While I never went through her specific experiences, I've felt the torture of being desperate to be seen as a newly adult woman. I had to pause every few chapters to avoid overwhelming my psyche.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
jadelouise_r's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Grief