Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Penance by Eliza Clark

62 reviews

stellahadz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.25

I loved how this book was written - it's a novel presented as a non-fiction true-crime book. Clark captures the voices of the teen characters so well, and as someone who grew up using Tumblr (and who was thankfully spared the genuinely horrifying sides of that platform), it was so interesting to see it explored in literature. I also loved that the characters and the setting were so well thought out; everything was described with a perfect amount of detail that tied it back to the crime. I genuinely liked this book a lot, perhaps more than Boy Parts, but there was something about it that bothered me.

As someone who has admittedly listened to and watched true-crime stories (although I try not to engage with media that is sensationalizing or disrespectful of victims and their families), I noticed almost immediately that

Joan's murder and its aftermath was practically a play-by-play of the murder of Shanda Sharer, a girl who was tortured and killed by a group of older teenagers in (I believe) the 90s. I can't help but feel that it's a little disturbing and disrespectful for the book to be *this* closely based on an actual crime against a child. There was no mention of Sharer or her family anywhere in the book notes or the acknowledgments (although I'm not familiar with all of the books that Clark referenced in writing this book.)

Maybe Clark's intention is to engage the audience through a sense of familiarity with especially famous true crime cases. While this is clever and well-executed from a writing point of view, I'm not sure how ethical it is. Again, I did like the book overall, this is just something that bugged me about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic friendship, Torture, Bullying, and Child death

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Mental illness, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Sexual assault

arayo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Racism, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Kidnapping

Minor: Xenophobia, Cursing, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Animal cruelty

cadence99's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

What a VISCERAL experience of a book as a woman who grew up online in the 2010’s- this has so many elements that made it a perfect read for me: the most unreliable narrator, niche tumblr cringe, and true crime community critique. This is definitely a unique experience of a book that I wouldn’t recommend to just anyone BUT it worked SO well for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Body horror, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Homophobia, Alcohol, Torture, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Body shaming, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Police brutality

grahammoore's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Incest, and Child abuse

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

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

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

florenceassetto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

i really liked this one! part of me wishes it was not read during exam season but it is also the only thing that has kept me sane(ish) so i have to be thankful! the speculative aspect of the book in it's entirety is something i found really interesting and i REALLY enjoyed the messaging and commentary it does on the real world - i find it particularly interesting and especially well delivered. this is almost definitely a book that is going to haunt me for a while but for all the best reasons, most definitely a read i would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Child death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Vomit

bionicfox666's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings