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The bulk of the book is Rhiannon complaining about people around her, with minimal plot other the checkout boy squishing the bread at the till and her occasional murders.
The sexual element felt overplayed and the
I also didn't enjoy that
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Pedophilia, Self harm
The humour is crass, the writing leans heavily on that "lol so unfiltered!!!" vibe that was trendy about a decade ago, and there’s a surprising amount of Bridget Jones-style diet talk for a book written in 2017. Some of the turns of phrase are sharp and funny, but a lot was eyeroll-inducing. Ah, the era when dropping an f-bomb in marketing was peak edginess.
Rhiannon is supposed to be awful, but I found myself cringing more at the writing than her actions. At times, it felt like the author's own views were bleeding through, which made things feel extra icky. The plot itself is solid, but the overall vibe is quite misogynistic, gross, and very much of its time. I won’t be picking up the rest of the series, and I don't think I'll be picking up any more of this writer's work.
I wonder if the TV show that's based on the book fares any better or if it stumbles at the same hurdles.
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
AJ is a teenager in this version but legally an adult so while iffy not technically anything wrong with it.
Rhi, to me, is both more and less likable in the book. And her actions make remotely more sense. Neither are better or worse, just different.
Focusing only on the book now:
Rhi obviously
There's no doubt that Rhi is an unreliable narrator. We hear only her side and the snippets of what characters say to her.
I didn't realize this was a series getting into it and I probably won't be reading them since I thought the snippets were a 'jokey' Rhi gets published after all and it's her fictionalized exploits. But I guess it was real.
I might have been too generous with the rating but it was overall a fun and interesting enough read.
There is a character who has self-harm scars and threatens/attempts suicide throughout the book and is generally referred to as crazy
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder
Minor: Pedophilia
I started reading it because I thought the premise sounded good (and it was free on the Kindle store) but it’s trying too hard to be ‘funny’ and just becomes dreadful. There’s slut-shaming, ableism and ‘crying wolf’ about being a victim of sexual assault.
I spent most of the book trying to work out what exactly was happening, the author has clearly tried to be mysterious but just comes off as incompetent most of the time.
The protagonist is a ‘woe is me’, emotionally distant woman who clearly hates herself, and the author did not make me sympathise or empathise with her at all.
Finding out the father was part of an anti-paedophile vigilante gang was probably the only interesting twist, but it doesn’t excuse the rest of the garbage I read.
I could have told you she was going to kill the 19 year old when she asked him to pretend to be dead while they were having sex, and there’s so many red flags and unanswered questions that frankly
If I could give it 0/5 I would, but alas I cannot.
Pass me the brain bleach, or put me out of my misery.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship