Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Penance by Eliza Clark

28 reviews

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

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

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

caissa_chthonia's review against another edition

dark funny tense 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

I absolutely loved it. It made me happy, it made me angry, I had a great time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Rape

elenakperez's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

As someone who was a young girl on Tumblr in 2012 and in middle/high school in the 2010s, much of this book is familiar to me because of the online spaces I was tangential to at those times. Also, as a person who consumed true crime via podcasts and documentaries recently, this book has changed the way I consume true crime. This book has been eye-opening and really made me reflect on my own consumption of true crime as well as how our society engages with what is now an industry that profits off of retelling the oftentimes unsanctioned stories of peoples' real and very personal tragedies. I would recommend this book to everyone I know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Child death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

rallythealli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Holy shit, such an intriguing look into true crime, the effects it can have and how being a teenage girl is awful. Fascinating and horrifying. Check the trigger warnings for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, and Bullying

moa's review

dark reflective medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Child death, and Bullying

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Rape

pilarlopezleiva's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Torture, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide

ermw0's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

The rare book where I am hooked by the premise, and then completely sold after the first page. I didn't want to look away while also feeling revulsion for the characters and their awful awful ways. God, how I do not miss being a teenage girl. I thought this was an effective commentary on the true crime fandom, as well as those Tumblr girlies who obsess over real serial killers. This book is graphic, infuriating, scary, repulsive, and addicting. Both a rebuke of the true crime genre and sort of a perfect example how you can create this type of gripping story without exploiting real people and their tragedies. As someone who fell off of true crime simply because of how slimy it made me feel consuming the grief of real people, this was the book that gave me everything I wanted and spoke to some of my own feelings. 

Eliza Clark is now an author who I will read anything she writes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Body horror, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Torture, Addiction, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape