Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Penance by Eliza Clark

108 reviews

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Child death, Gun violence, Bullying, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Drug use, Incest, and Suicide

Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, and Homophobia

enkiiii's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this book is so good. very shrewd and nuanced commentary on the ethics of true crime. and an “emotionally truthful” (as per the story’s fictional writer Alec Z. Carelli) depiction of what it’s like to be a teenager, and how that formative and often traumatic experience gets trivialized by adults until, well, somebody gets murdered. it was a difficult though entertaining read. and there’s a fun bit of metafiction in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Pedophilia

claudiarreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

3.25

Erm wow, this book was kind of gross??? 

Trigger warnings abound for violence involving children, abuse, torture, (minor)self harm content 

The characters were the most un likeable I have ever read about. 

But perhaps this attests to Eliza’s skill as a writer? Her research into fandom etc was incredibly nuanced and accurate. I’m still pondering if parts of this novel were necessary just because parts were so grim and vile. And aside from the few proof reading errors, I found myself needing to finish this book even if it was unenjoyable? 

I really enjoyed Eliza’s debut Boy Parts and Penance is that but on acid??? I will probably read what she writes in the future though. 

Anyway, unsure if I would recommend this novel. I found the premise a little odd / confusing. And perhaps reading at a bad time considering what’s in the news lately about child violence. 

Good luck if you read this I guess 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Self harm

cherryreads22's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

obito's review against another edition

slow-paced

1.5

Had to rewrite my review after sitting on it. The more I think about this story the more I dislike it. Overall it's way too long for what it wants to accomplish, and that hurts the point the book was trying to make. The theme of exploitation and truth in true crime felt hypocritical after finding out that details of this fictional case were largely taken from the murder of Shanda Sharer. It actually puts a pretty bad taste in my mouth that a novel with attempts to interrogate the tactless exploitation of true crime ends up de-centering (and fictionalizing) real life victims and their families.

The story ends up being too unfocused to be a critique of the true crime genre. Themes of girlhood, bullying, and toxic female friendships could've been made more effectively in fewer pages. This novel should've been no more than 200 pages.

The attempt to recreate internet culture from a particular time were sometimes successful and often not. I wonder how much the inclusion of this element added to the text for those who haven't been chronically online or engaged in tumblr fandom.

Unfortunately, the execution of this book is extremely lacking. Its themes explored in far better novels. Obviously this is for some people, but just not for me. Boo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Torture, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

abi_laura's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings

bek_p87's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was dark, twisted, and thought-provoking on several levels. Presented as a non-fiction true-crime book about a horrific fictional murder in a small seaside town, this is about evil, our fascination with it, and how capitalism monetises this fascination. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Ableism, Murder, Sexual violence, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicide

mookisbooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Torture, Bullying, Child death, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

opldxblqo's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

I am exactly the demographic for this book: late 20s white woman who spent considerable time on Tumblr in the early 2010s; this book would have fallen short if not for lighting up the teenage nostalgia centers of my brain with its references to the edgy internet culture of my morbid youth (No, I wasn't ever in a serial killer fandom, but I ate up true crime and occasionally looked at "pro ana" blogs with a horrified outsider's fascination). Any reader who missed out on the absolute chum bucket that was Tumblr in the early 2010s (lucky you!) will likely be bored by large chunks of this book.
Despite its heavy reliance on niche internet nostalgia, what Clark gets right in Penance is the critical look at the culture of violence entertainment in true crime media. Penance asks readers to look inward at their rubber-necking voyeurism without scolding; asks readers to question the motives of true crime content creators, and understand that this content more often than not retraumatizes victims' families. Though this exact critique has been explored many times through fiction in the last couple of years in novels such as I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (blah), and Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (five starts!), Penance does so much more thoroughly through the use of metanarrative. The sections of prose are well written and each character feels fully fleshed and complex; a delightful surprise after Clark's disappointing first novel, Boy Parts.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, Incest, Gun violence, Child death, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Murder, Torture, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, and Death

rhona_m's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The structure of the book was a great way of revealing the characters slowly and through different lenses. The darkness of the story was less interesting than the portrait of the young girls featured. The relationship between these relatively normal highschool girls and how the oddities and experiences of each fuelled something dark. It felt like a believable progression rather than a narrative of plain evil.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide

Minor: Toxic relationship, Racism, and Vomit