Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff

7 reviews

belleslibrary1012's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As someone who has always loved print, I failed to see or understand the appeal of audiobooks. Then, I had a baby who turned into a toddler and I realized if I wanted adequate reading time for myself, I was going to have to put books in my ears. This is my second one ever and I will say the narrator really does make or break a story in an audiobook. This narrator was incredible and sucked me in whether in the kitchen, at the store, or amidst a hailstorm of flying toys and loud noises.

I will also say I never truly understood the need for trigger warnings because don't you know what you're reading already? Why is it necessary? This book drastically and forever changed that for me, given it did not have one and absolutely should. The author does a tremendous job don't get me wrong, but she purposefully buries the lead and heads the reader off to expect what they see in front of them as the focal point and that is just not true. The true crime in this crime story is not the one written in the back cover blurb, but instead lies just above the words, pulling you in and then just when you start to believe it, takes it away making you think you're reading into things. This was sad and tragic and beautiful and terrifying in so many ways. Though it is not a book I can revisit again, it is one that was very well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

bookish_words's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I had to do a double take with this book more times than I can remember. On the one hand, the author got incredibly immersed in the creation of the characters and she captured the rich and white privilege extremely well.  Or, she created the most unlikable set of characters to ever exist. I couldn’t for the life of me tell if something was intentional or not. These characters made the worst choices, yet they were presented as being so self aware that in the end they took the moral high ground. For example: Cassie sums up everything at the end saying, “Maybe I’m wrong. But I want to believe we are more than the worst things we’ve done.” That to me is just so incredibly dismissive of a lot of the sensitive topics covered in this book. 
  By the end of it I was just “hate reading” it because at least it was entertaining. The quality of the writing itself is great, I think the author did a great job writing a believable court proceeding. I would definitely recommend audiobook for this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Body shaming

eemcnell's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I don’t think this landed how the author intended, it’s NOT an empowering #MeToo book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Rape

Moderate: Body shaming and Misogyny

mkbellin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Racism

kerrygetsliterary's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Cursing, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

thatswhatshanread's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

*Please look up all content warnings for this novel. There are many and they go very in depth.*

I went into this one not knowing much about it, other than it being a BOTM choice that really intrigued me. I think it’s important to let the story do the talking, rather than personal bias or other people’s reviews. Sometimes it’s hard to avoid that, but I think especially with this book, you need to recognize that the scenes are written very deeply in the POV of the MC, a rich and privileged young woman, though troubled and much more than what appears on the surface. 

This book dares you to play devil’s advocate for the worst possible scenario you could face as a woman. A case you would immediately fight against. Unthinkable, especially in today’s society. As a woman. As someone identifying as a woman. A daughter. A sister. A mother. A human being. 

A sexual assault case. A rich, handsome, white Princeton-educated young man versus the “obsessive” ex-girlfriend. We all know the story, unfortunately all too well. 

Where “When We Were Bright and Beautiful” differs is that it’s told from the POV of the accused’s older sister who believes him to be innocent. What ensues with her life, her secrets, her family’s secrets, and the trial as a whole is unsettling and shocking, but far more than just in the ways you’d expect. 

Dysfunctional lives of the rich and (in)famous. This is an incredible family drama that’s centered around privilege, control, and power. It’s a sickly accurate view of high society and rape culture, while in some ways being another stepping stone in the never-ending fight to believe victims. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Pedophilia, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Confinement, Car accident, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Medical content

Minor: Body shaming, Abandonment, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Out now! [Thank you Libro.fm for my gifted ALC!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Cassie Quinn is a normal—albeit rich and privileged—graduate student. But when she receives the news that her younger brother Billy has been arrested for rape, everything she knows about herself, her family, and her life will soon be threatened.

Before I get into the book itself, I need to give a shoutout to the audio, which was truly an extraordinarily production and expertly narrated by Marin Ireland. If you’re going to read this one, I cannot recommend the audio highly enough!

On to the book itself—I was so conflicted about this book the entire time I was reading it, because the story is *very* difficult to read (please see CWs!) but in the end, I was captivated and found myself constantly wanting to read more and know what would happen, which is undeniably the mark of a good book. I don’t think this will be for everyone, but if it sounds appealing to you, I absolutely recommend checking it out. And if you do, please please DM me and let’s discuss.

Recommended, especially if you like: lifestyles of the rich and famous; literary fiction but make it a courtroom drama; complex characters.

CW: Sexual assault/rape; child sexual abuse; adult/minor relationship; sexism/misogyny/victim-blaming; toxic relationship; body shaming/emotional abuse; death of parent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Body shaming

Minor: Death of parent and Alcoholism