Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Penance by Eliza Clark

160 reviews

sophie______a's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Torture, Body shaming, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Lesbophobia, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Sexual content, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Self harm, and Classism

alexandramary's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Bullying, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

serendipitysbooks's review

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Murder, Bullying, and Torture

lweezthereadrat's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.0

The premise made me pick this up because true crime makes me squirm- it was interesting to see it pastiched and dissected. I would've loved some more of the interview/aftermath of the book in the book being published, the last ten pages were exhilarating. The main meat of the book is also gripping but very grim- I was seriously worried I wouldn't be able to stomach Penance after the first twenty pages but luckily Clark doesn't linger on the unpleasant details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Blood, and Fatphobia

applejuiceinabox's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Murder, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Toxic friendship

jessisamess's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Torture, Mass/school shootings, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Bullying

em815ily's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Outing, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Violence, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Self harm, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Body shaming

tessa_specchio's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

woah 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Bullying, Torture, Death, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia, Gore, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Grief, Vomit, Classism, and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism, Police brutality, Eating disorder, Racism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

nialystic's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, Toxic friendship, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Rape, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Torture, Classism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Self harm, Stalking, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Outing

jesskb's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A dark work of fiction modelled on true crime with a frankly crazy level of realism. This book reflects on some of the darkest aspects of human nature, what drives people to extreme acts of violence, the lingering traumas of primary and secondary school bullying and the other hidden traumas that accompany them, and the horrors of being "terminally online" in the unfiltered madness of the Tumblr era. 

Interesting if horrific, and unusual for its almost documentary style - which worked very well as an audiobook, with a true crime podcasty feel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, and Fire/Fire injury