Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermansky

13 reviews

abigailgrims's review

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug abuse and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

sam8834's review

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

Is Dark RomCom a thing? Because Hurricane Girl is funny in a horrifying way?! I enjoyed this, as a novel that entertains and is sharp, but doesn't take itself too seriously. I appreciate that the protagonist, Allison, is more in love with swimming pools than with men and is willing to shape her whole life around the prospect of having access to a pool everyday. She experiences life-upending tragedies back-to-back and the story revolves around her resilience in the face of that, and it's interesting to see her retain these small comforts, like being able to swim everyday.

I will say that the whole book hinges on an attack very early on that I kind of had to suspend disbelief for. It is plenty scary and horrific, but given the realistic stats and what we know about male violence, Allison likely wouldn't have gotten through the incident without the occurrence of even further trauma. A sobering truth that I suspect was left out of the book for the purpose of keeping its lighter, darkly comic edge, which is understandable and makes for a quick, funny read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

(adjusted from 4 to 4.25)
the writing style was alright, like why don't characters use contractions in dialogue. that's so weird. but i loved the main character. she just wanted to swim and that's it. me too girlie. i wish there was more at the end though, like a confirmation that

she wasn't pregnant

.
also Fleabag reference. we stay winning

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual violence, Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Infidelity

nicoreads333's review

dark funny medium-paced

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

3.25

This book was a trip and a half. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, except that I went along for a wild ride and was entertained in the process. The MC isn't all that likable or reliable, but I kind of love that about this book. She's an imperfect character going through realistic and devastating experiences, but it a way that almost feels dreamlike. I feel like as someone who often detaches myself from traumatic situations, this kind of hit home in that way. 

This is a short read (I finished in a couple of hours) but the book kind of stays with you long after that. It was dark, comedic, and, at times, thrilling. I'm excited to read more by this author.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content

librosdenopal's review

dark emotional funny 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

a funny, poignant and subtle comment on the shock that comes with grief and mourning a loved one. i wasn't expecting it to be so sad but also really, terribly funny. "i have my health..." 

it does feel like the book just started in terms of growth as the ending got closer. i was hoping for a stronger finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Confinement, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

hanelisil's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I honestly chose this for the fun cover art and was surprised to learn it is about someone experiencing

a traumatic brain injury from assault.

Watching how the narration and thought processes shift after the event is really interesting.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

carmenvillaman's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

cassidy's review

dark funny fast-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

Ahh idk this book had me sitting at the edge of my seat the whole time. There was something about the deadpan narration that drew me to it though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Medical trauma

suzyreadsbooks's review

dark funny tense fast-paced

3.0

gifted to me by knopf!
a good beach read. it really hits the ground running. weird, choppy, propulsive despite the lulls in plot. really funny moments, really tender moments about grief and family, lots of ridiculousness. you can easily breeze through it all, even the parts veering on horror, because Allison’s narration jumps all over the place due to her very recent brain injury. 

but i am tired of authors deciding to prove a character’s unlikeability by having them make random microaggressions! and let's stop using mental illness as the antagonist’s motivations!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Drug use and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts