Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

116 reviews

pamelamoreno's review against another edition

emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault

boop123's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

 This was written in an interesting format as most parts of the book were written in a transcript style, which I am not used to. I recommend reading this through audiobook because I feel like reading through those parts with different narrators would hit differently. 

On another note, I was not expecting the main character to be lowkey unlikeable over time. Although I feel like I should’ve seen it coming, considering the premise of this story is about how the main character had an affair with one of Om’s clients who is married and knew from the very beginning that it was her but still continued interacting with her. However, I did not expect the MC to slowly turn paranoid and overjealous even though they weren’t exclusively dating like that’s crazyyy. 

This book also tackles grief and trauma and how different people deal with it. The main character, Greta, almost always uses her troubled past to justify her actions and behavior. Hence, instead of taking accountability for her actions, she believes her trauma makes her excused from it. On the other hand, Flavia is anti-trauma believing that it is only one major event that happened, but it shouldn’t excuse shitty actions. Basically, she is detached from it and doesn’t believe it should affect people that hard. Both perspectives were fascinating to read as they are two completely different ends of the spectrum. 

Overall, it is a fun (and lowkey unhinged) read! But honestly, I could not understand how people thought this was hilarious because I did not let out a single boisterous laugh, maybe a chuckle, but it was not THAT funny (perhaps the humor is just not for me). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Mental illness

oliviakoeppen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

3.0

The author’s descriptions of feelings & events simultaneously enamored me and disgusted me. This book made me feel a lot, but mostly feelings of discomfort and embarrassment. I am glad I read it but would be contentious in who I recommend this book to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Mental illness

princesstiramisu's review against another edition

funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Stalking, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder and Mental illness

mconant's review against another edition

emotional hopeful

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

4.0

I liked this more than I expected!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

manipoppins's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

marinark's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• 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

I think this is one of those "love it or hate it" books. I loved it, I don't mind the loosenes of the plot, I find the broken characters endearing and it made me laugh out loud once or twice which is very unusual for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Stalking

ribbenkast's review

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is the first book that promised me weirdness and actually deliverd. None of the dialogue feels realistic, every single character in this book is deeply flawed, unlikeable and quite frankly invented new ways to be insane. But that's exactly the point. 

The writing is unlike anything I've ever read. Jen Beagin is amazing with language. Some sentences feel like a punch in the face, but it somehow feels good.

I understand that it's a defisive book, it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea and that's okay. Personally I had an amazing time with it and I will ad it to my list of favourites. 

If you think Sheena Patel's 'I'm a fan' and Melissa Broder's 'Milk Fed' were fun but you wanted something more out there, than this is the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence

The consent between Greta and Big Swiss is kind of dubious the entire time since Greta is obviously lying about who she is.

margauxjpg's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Suicide

spectre_warden's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

Don't waste your time. Negative 5 stars.

People who may like this book: 
hate Japanese people, 
have only seen male gaze lesbian porn, 
have never had a healthy relationship with anyone,
hate character development,
still use the 'R' word in 2024, 
and know they need therapy but refuse to go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Suicide, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism