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gabriellegoldenhour'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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
estella44'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
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
carolrol_lina's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
eralbesu'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
4.0
This reads as a confessional from our main character about her obsessions with love and sex and her volatile relationship with her body and her compulsion to punish it.
There were many parts that were difficult for me to read and plenty of parts where I had to step away because of my embarrassment with the our main character’s sheer honesty about her actions and her intentions.
Not sure I could recommend it, as the trigger warnings are plentiful, but I’m happy I read it.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Fatphobia and Abandonment
icarusandthesun'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? Yes
5.0
when i read the synopsis i feared this was gonna be a very 'straight' book - romanticising toxic relationships, shallow and all that. but while this is undeniably still very straight, it's also self-aware, beautiful, painfully relatable at times, unhinged and so lovable.
it's got messy takes on obsession and love and features thoughts that sprang from a disturbed mind.
the book's full of terribly relatable things, vices and forbidden thoughts i was surprised to find were not confined to my own damned existence. it was all so specific and comforting and horrible.
the short chapters made this book quick, easy and lovely to read.
whimsical, yet comforting.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, and Physical abuse
Minor: Drug use, Gore, and Blood
thesawyerbean'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
toofondofbooks_'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
5.0
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.
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
armonim97's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Body horror and Sexual violence