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lithoerary_atria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
it was difficult to read. particularly the transcript of the talkshow. i was shaking and had to walk away for a couple if hours before continuing the book.
last month, a horrific incident happened in my city. more so, because in some ways it is connected to me and people like me as a collective. and it hurts to see the conversations & events that happened in real life and HAVE been happening now be so so so universal.
this was a very well written depiction of rape culture that resides in society even today and in many ways, an extremely difficult book to digest. one of my only complaints though would be the lack of voice of the trans man who was also a victim in the book. it just didn't seem fair that the voice of a trans person is the only one that apparently didn't need to be heard.
i read this in physical form as well as in audio and the cast of voice actors actually did a wonderful job. a huge hats off to them. specifically to the voice of jamar sands & ezra fisher. impeccable voice acting on their parts.
all in all, would recommend even if i had a few complaints.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Medical content, and Medical trauma
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
4.25
this was a great read (not necessarily because of the story since it discusses r*p* and s*x*u*l a*s*u*t, but the way it was told). It's multiple pov and can get pretty graphic. I wish we got a little bit of expansion on Michael and Sebastian as they were the victims we got the least amount of time with. I also didn't love the ending, but it was wrapped up nicely enough for me with how the victims coped and tried to heal.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
swedishfrisk's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
This book follows several men who’ve been raped by an unknown woman and we’re following them as they work to pick up the pieces within their lives and regain some sense of normalcy or something new. We follow them through journal entries, internet searches, online chats, and media reactions and they all come together to make a rich story that is able to delve into difficult topics including sexual assault and rape as it relates to racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, toxic masculinity, media coverage and our criminal justice system.
This was an incredibly difficult read but I’m so glad I read it and I can tell I’ll be thinking about the questions it raised for years to come.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment
peggy_racham's review
5.0
A very difficult but important read.
All the TWs
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
maddireads13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
mgm9816's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt
wickedgrumpy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
The writing was quite well done, kind of a bit of mixed media with the journal entries, chat logs, transcripts, poetry, and radio show vibes. The first three victims were well fleshed out and their trauma was ever present and horrifying. The later ones felt more superficial though I'm not really sure why. There were also quite a few questions that were raised in the plot that were never answered that made it feel a bit rushed.
I do think this is a good book that has a lot of value in representing sexual assault as a whole and especially in male victims. However, with all that in mind, I don't feel like I was the intended audience because I don't generally like to read books about rape. I suppose I didn't expect it to be quite so graphic about it.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol
chloseencounter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed hearing all the different POVs of the antagonist’s victims, this was a very raw look into all the various outcomes that can come from surviving sexual assault, weather it’s dealing by humor, family, control, emptiness, self destructive behavior, or even suicide. While the characters were interesting and their storylines were heartbreaking, the most special thing to me about this novel is the look at what women so often deal with when faced with sexual violence but through the eyes of a man. Unfortunately female victims of sexual assault are all too common, we hear about it so much in fact, our society has become desensitized to the sexual abuse women face and how it’s handled by the public. Flipping the narrative and using men as the victims not only opens up an important conversation about men who have experienced sexual violence and how they are treated but also made the subject feel much more shocking. Then I suppose we can ask ourselves…why is that? Why is being sexually assaulted as a women so commonplace that it doesn’t feel nearly as gut wrenching to read?
At the end of the day, I think that ultimately there wasn’t one predator but multiple women predators. The story seemed to lump these people into one frightening amalgamation of a women because how could society believe that there may be multiple women out there preying upon men, it must be a repeat offender. However, when a women is attacked it could literally be “any man”, which is a very smart way to make a statement about how both male and female victims of sexual violence are seen unfairly by the general public.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
autumnwhite's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
mermaidsherbet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, and Pregnancy