Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The One by John Marrs

8 reviews

sarah_amy's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

Really enjoyed listening to this one. Narrated by a great cast of voice actors that made up the 6 characters featured in this book. It gave very 'Black Mirror' vibes of a future that feels not too far off with technological and genetic advancements not too far-fetched. Loved how it showed the different moral and safety predicaments that genetically-matched coupling could bring. I was drawn in by all the characters, who were both charismatic and incredibly flawed, which made it difficult to know how to feel about them, making them more human. If any flaw, a couple of the endings felt a little rushed. I devoured all 11 hours of this in 2 days. Looking forward to rereading The Passengers next, now that I know it's somewhat part of a series (though both books serve well as stand-alones!).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Child death, Forced institutionalization, and Death

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Infertility, Body shaming, Ableism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Car accident, and Torture

bonjourdan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Pretty good read. It took a while to get into the groove but overall I was enthralled by the end. I think having five different stories at once was a bit confusing but the shorter chapters helped everything stay pretty cohesive and I didn’t see any of the plot twists coming! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Body shaming and Violence

leebeeloves's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infertility, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Torture

Moderate: Bullying, Dementia, Rape, Violence, Fatphobia, Infertility, Child death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Cancer, Body shaming, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Infidelity, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Cancer, Medical content, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

cepbreed's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

Many characters in this book were written with a painfully male gaze and that itself made this such a hard read. The beginning is slow and remembering the five characters and their lives is a chore. That said the concept is very interesting and plot twists surprising. However some were not well executed and I felt like they were only added for shock value, not for the expansion of the narrative.

Song: Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Body shaming

princessgonchar's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 This was a really fun read! I picked up the audiobook on a whim because I didn't want to have to read anything with my eyes and just listened to it all day long. I will say some stories were inherently going to be more interesting than others, and I wish some twists had been more hidden, but then again other twists made me gasp out loud so it was a good mix.

I took it down one star for some of the predictability (and subsequently, some things not making a ton of sense to me or something not being taken all the way that I wanted it to go) and then just general personal enjoyment. I really generally dislike stories that center around pregnancy, which immediately made some of the stories significantly less interesting/enjoyable. But that's just me. And if you're particularly moved by stories about pregnancy and children, you'll probably like it a lot!

A good read, very entertaining! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Grief, Infertility, Kidnapping, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

Minor: Dementia

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

I read this because I started watching the Netflix adaptation and heard that it was based on this book. I like the Netflix adaptation more overall, but I did like that this book had more worldbuilding in terms of what the geopolitical ramifications of gene matching like this would cause. Even so, I wish there was more showing, rather than telling. The twists were quite wild, but it was overall an intriguing story that made me want to know what was going to happen next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Domestic abuse and Genocide

marrireadsandrambles's review against another edition

I got 40% through when I just couldn’t anymore. The characters are selfish and one dimensional, making them really annoying to read about. Some of the language is a bit offensive (fatphobia, homophobia). Also

one of the characters has cancer and some of that is talked about in detail which is triggering for me and may be triggering for anyone who has lost someone to cancer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Stalking, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Car accident and Fatphobia