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bethchass's review
Super disturbing, felt like it was even illegal to read, could not morally finish it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
enbylievable's review
dark
tense
fast-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
thedistortionist's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
essie101's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing, Blood, Stalking, and Alcohol
cncahall's review
challenging
dark
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
inlaraland's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
I listened to the audiobook version of "Tampa", and this novel is not an easy one to digest. The author managed to convey the same level of horror that I felt when reading "Lolita" and "My Dark Vanessa" - but the ending of this work was haunting for an entirely different reason. This novel heavily focuses on the grooming, corruption and exploitation of minors and I would strongly suggest reading all content and trigger warnings before picking it up.
The story follows Celeste, a beautiful young woman who is secretly a hebephile. Celeste pursues a career as a middle school teacher to gain access to young boys who she would like to pursue a relationship with. The entire story is told through Celeste's point of view, and you are trapped inside her twisted mind and thoughts. She has a hard time keeping up with "normal" appearances the more she indulges in her sick fantasies, and the story unravels into deep chaos.
This is probably one of the hardest, stomach churning books that I have ever listened to. What is even more horrific is the dismissive reactions around Celeste's behavior just because she's a conventionally attractive woman. The harsh truth about her dangerous behavior is somehow always masked. It made my skin crawl at times, and there were moments where I actually had to stop listening because I just couldn't go on.
Like I said, it isn't an easy read but the message that evil cannot be masked by a pretty face is strongly conveyed.
The story follows Celeste, a beautiful young woman who is secretly a hebephile. Celeste pursues a career as a middle school teacher to gain access to young boys who she would like to pursue a relationship with. The entire story is told through Celeste's point of view, and you are trapped inside her twisted mind and thoughts. She has a hard time keeping up with "normal" appearances the more she indulges in her sick fantasies, and the story unravels into deep chaos.
This is probably one of the hardest, stomach churning books that I have ever listened to. What is even more horrific is the dismissive reactions around Celeste's behavior just because she's a conventionally attractive woman. The harsh truth about her dangerous behavior is somehow always masked. It made my skin crawl at times, and there were moments where I actually had to stop listening because I just couldn't go on.
Like I said, it isn't an easy read but the message that evil cannot be masked by a pretty face is strongly conveyed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
coco78337's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
ratgirl17's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual content
trashley_123's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book is hugely distressing, especially for those with children. I enjoyed the book, yes, but I found myself sick to my stomach and needing to walk away from it multiple times. I couldnt tell if I even liked it or not because it drew such a strong emotional reaction from me. I recognize that was probably the authors intent and it was intended to subvert the trope of male teacher grooming teenage girls with the intention of drawing attention to the hypocrisy of male vs female sexual predators in media and the news. It almost felt gratuitous to me, the sexual assault was extremely graphic and seemed to be written with the intention of being erotic to the reader. Im not someone who shies away from heavy topics, I've read some very disgusting books that didnt bother me at all but this book gave me the worst sense of dread. I cant tell if I liked it or not, I flew through it at an insane pace desperate to see the protagonist see some amount of consequence but she escaped with a slap on the hand. I know its realistic, I know its social commentary but I cant get past the repeated graphic assault on minors. Read at your own risk, it was well written and extremely funny in some parts and certaimly makes you think, but it was more terrifying than any horror novel I've ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
tobyw's review
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm kinda fascinated by the people in the reviews raving about how the author must be mentally ill or something. Pedophilia elicits more emotions in people than any other kind of crime or transgression.
That being said, I was mostly unphased by this book. When it was really trying to be graphic and shocking, it felt like that time in grade eight when some girl ran up to me and held up her finger and said "look, BLOOD!" Its most successful moments were when I found myself nodding along with Celeste's logic, and then going "oh, yikes."
The ending fit well. To me, this was a book more about the hatred of age than the love of youth. I think Nutting pulled that off quite subtly but effectively. Celeste's last line is literally that she would rather imagine that shekilled the two teenage boys than think about how they are aging now .
Some of the writing was so absurd that it became risible, which often seemed intentional. There's a streak of dark humour and satire running through the book that kept me at arms' length from its disturbing content. Over all, it succeeded on its own terms, but I think the author could have set her sights higher.
That being said, I was mostly unphased by this book. When it was really trying to be graphic and shocking, it felt like that time in grade eight when some girl ran up to me and held up her finger and said "look, BLOOD!" Its most successful moments were when I found myself nodding along with Celeste's logic, and then going "oh, yikes."
The ending fit well. To me, this was a book more about the hatred of age than the love of youth. I think Nutting pulled that off quite subtly but effectively. Celeste's last line is literally that she would rather imagine that she
Some of the writing was so absurd that it became risible, which often seemed intentional. There's a streak of dark humour and satire running through the book that kept me at arms' length from its disturbing content. Over all, it succeeded on its own terms, but I think the author could have set her sights higher.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual content