c_lizziebeth's Reviews (58)

Pygmalion

George Bernard Shaw

4.75

funny hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Classism

Minor: Cursing, Colonisation

I'm Glad My Mom Died

Jennette McCurdy

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective tense fast-paced

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Everyone who has not had a major mental and/or eating disorder and/or an abuser NEEDS to read this book. Everyone who has experienced a lot of that… should probably Not read this. Or. At least pick up towards the end. Or. Prepare for those trigger warnings. Prepare.
The first 200-and-something pages. Felt like hell for me. It’s a realism and an onslaught that I probably should not have relived with her. 
I regret some things about this experience. But not the act of reading this book itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

King Lear

William Shakespeare

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Processing. 

If I Had Your Face

Frances Cha

4.5

challenging dark hopeful informative tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

1.5

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

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This book is boring. The good ending did not make up for the hours I wasted or the violent sexism and racism. Also, dare I say queer baiting? Seriously, John.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Murder

Juniper & Thorn

Ava Reid

4.5

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Everything was brutal and brilliant. An amalgamation of Grim fairy tales. It’s about unlearning a worldview. It’s a mess. But, God, the intensely emotionally abusive father is so relatable.

This has been edited because. I keep coming back to it. I keep hanging on the words of different reviews. And I’ve since reflected on and heard more about why I didn’t understand some of it. The gore and catharsis around every trauma I understood was coupled with some trauma and trauma responses… I just didn’t understand. This book wasn’t there to teach. But it was really fucking good. And it lingered in my mind.

Also. The cover is fucking gorgeous but the tone of it—the style—only says “Fantasy.” I understand how even I didn’t know I was in for horror when I picked it up. I’m glad I found it but I’m not surprised a lot of people end up just triggered or hating it. It’s misleading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cannibalism

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

1.25

slow-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

The Mad Women's Ball

Victoria Mas

3.75

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Huh. 

Purple Hibiscus

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

4.75

dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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So good. So good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse

Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

4.25

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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It was a drag but it was intelligent and the ending made it all worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide

Minor: War