Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Pet by Catherine Chidgey

7 reviews

sbookreader's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious 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

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Absorbing. I knew where the story was going as soon as the

thefts

started but it was very well executed and there were a few twists that I hadn’t anticipated alongside the main plot line. Really excellent Kiwi characterisation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Dementia, Death of parent

igabalot1130's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Exactly what I am looking for in a psychological thriller. 

The balance between the mystery of wondering what happens and the dread of suspecting what happens is constructed really well. Even as the plot unfolds, these two force’s don’t fully resolve until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

gettuffstaytuff's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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incredible!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Abortion, Classism

nialiversuch's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Abortion

sandysmith's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It's a slow burner for me, but once it hooks you in, that's it, you just can't stop reading. A dark, compelling read full of guilt and portrayal, just when you think you know where it's going, it twists away. There is a dual timeline, set in New Zealand in both 1984, with the relationships of 12 year old girls and boys at a Catholic school vying for the attentions of their teacher, Miss Price, and more recently, in 2014 in a care home for dementia patients. Justine, as a unreliable narrator at 12 years old, struggles with relationships, the recent loss of her mother due to cancer, and her fathers relationship with alcohol. Her best friend is Amy (the only non white character), bullying, the pressure of conforming, wanting to be loved and recognised as special, mysogony, addiction, racism and other really important themes are scattered throughout the book making you really think. A compelling, profound, and a brilliant surprising read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Death

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Suicide, Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder

shockbunnie's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Racism, Gaslighting

reads_eats_explores's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Pet opens in a nursing home in Auckland in 2014, where Justine, along with her daughter Emma, is visiting her father.  A carer with a familiar face sparks a train of memories, and we soon find ourselves in 1984, where young Justine is in her final year of primary school.  

With her American car and glamorous appearance, their teacher Mrs Price, bowls over pupils and parents alike. She is poles apart from the other staff: aloof head teacher Mr Chisholm, who beats pupils with a strap, pious Father Lynch and elderly nerve-ridden Sister Bronislava. 

Being ‘teacher's pet’ is no bad thing here: all the children long to be her little helper after class and receive a smile and some kind words. However, Mrs Price runs her choice of ‘pets’ on a sinister divide-and-conquer basis. For all her talk of ‘we are a family’, she thrives on the children worrying and being bullied.

Newly motherless Justine and her kindly but depressed father are her perfect target, and Mrs Prince pounces. Justine initially laps up this attention.

However, class life becomes more complicated when items start going missing from the children’s desks and bags.  When nobody owns up, Mrs Price encourages the children to share their thoughts on the matter, and Justine and her best friend Amy are the main suspects. Add a liberal dose of casual racism, misogyny and religious bigotry, and we've quite the dark psychological thriller going on.

Pet is a compelling novel made from the dark side of childhood memories, overtly and subliminally. The problem with memory, however, is that it can be self-delusionary; from Justine as an increasingly unreliable narrator to her father’s later dementia, this book is faultless. Don't miss out on this one. 4.5⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy in return for an as always honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail