Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer

4 reviews

ritabriar's review

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I adored this book and many of its characters! (And abhorred one) This was a very tense read, and yet it's also sweet and heartwarming.
This story manages to follow a clear pursuit-style plot and also be completely character-driven.  Characters make mistakes, so they're not perfect, but these mistakes come from their limitations, not any particular flaws. Everyone does what they do because they care (or in one notable case, don't care) about each other. Kritzer also manages to make each character unique, with their own voice. Everyone's motives are understandable, especially considering their various ages and levels of experience with the world. The setting is almost just like the corresponding US locations today, but with more robots and one more AI (and just as many large language models). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Mental illness, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Car accident, Violence, Torture, Death, Outing, Bullying, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Suicide, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Homophobia

taque's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.0

I wanted to like this book, but kept feeling like the real reason it was written was to instruct high schoolers about things like sex ed and other topics they "should" know about. It felt preachy. Also, the characters are supposed to be juniors in high school, but they felt like middle schoolers. It was an odd feeling. 

the shift to a violent  controlling father was a bit of a harsh turn that didn't fit with the rest of the writimg that felt concerned with juvenile characters.

Finally, for all the concern and teaching in the book, it was odd, and felt irresponsible to completely ignore the dangers of online chat rooms and easily trusting people from them.

I mean, how many online chat rooms are likely to have a benevolent overlord who only looks out for the care and safety of others?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Torture, Gun violence, Violence, and Suicide

tangleroot_eli's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

A fast-paced whirl of a book with sharply realized characters and plenty of adventure.

I felt a little disappointment when I realized that Steph's creepy dad was after them because he wanted her mom's super-duper decryption key and not just because he was an abusive sociopath, but I think that might just mean that I need to take a break from sf set in "our" world.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, and Medical content

Minor: Transphobia and Fire/Fire injury

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Gaslighting, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Stalking