Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Magma

I read this in one sitting, it was super quick and easy to read. I was so angry at all the double standards, like how he berates her for being "promiscuous" in her past but repeatedly cheats on her with other women. who's the real slut here? i hated how much she admires him, you can literally feel the delusion. like she thinks he's so brilliant because he reads and quotes famous philosophers, but he has been in university for 8 years with no degree to show for it. The worst thing is that she has both a motherly urge to protect and nurture him, while also striving to be "good enough" for him to finally commit to her. It means she will always be at his mercy and also never be able to hold him accountable for his actions.

also worth noting how useless the doctors are.

you see a woman coming in looking that fucked up and there's a man with her, and you don't ask the man to leave the room to ask her if she is ok??? you don't suspect that she might be being abused???

the ending was... yikes

how tf will a baby fix anything? you will be tied to this evil man forever and youre so traumatized you need to take a break and heal before doing something drastic like having a fucking baby wtf why was the baby considered her "way out of this darkness" I really hope this is just the author trusting the reader to understand this outcome is not a happy ending, its actually the worst case scenario and her life will only get worse

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vicivia's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.5

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shit_she_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

“Magma” is the first book I’ve read written by an Icelandic author. The novella follows the course of an abusive relationship from the perspective of Lilja, a young woman who finds herself increasingly entangled in a web of toxicity. Hjörleifsdóttir dedicates “Magma” to “those who have spoken out” and aims at using her voice to raise awareness and empathy for women in abusive relationships and tries to explain why one cannot just end these relationships. I read “Magma” in one sitting and loved the writing—some chapters are only two sentences long and the entire novel is incredibly fast-paced and stream of consciousness like which works so well with the topic. I really appreciate how “Magma” follows the process of Lilja becoming more and more lost in this relationship and depicts how she tries to rationalize her partner’s behavior. It is not the story of how one can leave a toxic relationship, but how one becomes increasingly unable to break free. “Magma” is sad, tense, but oh so raw and honest and I really recommend it.

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acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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

1.0

This book was basically the torture of a mentally ill woman in an abusive relationship. Trigger warnings for very graphic depictions of self-harm, suicide attempts, and sexual assault. I liked neither the stream-of-conscience style writing, nor the main character's frustrating refusal to do anything that would better her own circumstances. This book was definitely not my style. I don't think I can handle frustrating main characters. I spent the whole book begging her to make literally any other choices than the ones she did.

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