Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Syvään päähän by Kate Davies

33 reviews

nmf16's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative sad 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? Yes

3.0

I started this book loving it, but by the end felt quite sad for the main character.  Julia thinks she is on some sort of sexual awakening but completely fails to see she is being mistreated and massively gaslighted for the entirety of her controlling/coercive relationship. 
The book isn’t for the prudish as there are quite vividly written sexual scenes relating to BDSM and kink, which at first seemed quite funny but as the storyline progresses, become more uncomfortable to read.

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nectarb's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny 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

4.0


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catherinerowland's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0


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ailionnet's review against another edition

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funny 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? It's complicated

3.75


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canonically_k's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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

1.5

I got fleabagged (the last chapter is called it'll pass). There was not enough unproblematic life living and TOO MUCH TOXIC RELATIONSHIP WHO WOULD ENJOY READING THIS. This book made me so furious and upset and it was not at all advertised to be about this. I feel like the book itself wasn't recognising how horrible the relationship was, and I know it's from the victims perspective but it left me really confused. So much of it just horrified me and I hated every time they got back together. The humor was also very unfiltered and made me a bit uncomfortable at points. It framed non-monogamy really weirdly as well and didn't have any retrospective nuance about it. Also the protagonist comes out as a lesbian and doesn't make friends with a single queer person other than lesbians as far as I can tell.I need to learn not to hate read books and to just put them down. 

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alicesometimesreads's review against another edition

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1.0

This book made me sad :(( 
The main relationship was abusive and I don't like abusive :(( I picked up this book because it kept getting recommended, had good ratings and was described as funny - but I didn't know it'd be about a meanie person :(( the narrator/style kinda made me think of Bridget Jones - which already isn't my vibe so I didn't get the funny :((
It was also a bit more explicit than I was expecting but ig that's on me. Books about toxic relationships are not not my vibe - I be saddened.

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lib_adams's review against another edition

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  • 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

3.75


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em_daydreaming's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

5.0


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sassylk's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A very fast read from me, probably the fastest of the year so far! 

I asked the lady in Gays the Word for a book that was about unapologetic queer joy - i’m not sure this exactly met that request, but it was a fun read nonetheless. I don’t think I expected quite as many sex descriptions (don’t read this on the tube!!), but I guess I learned a lot. 

It was a very delicate portrait of a descent into an abusive relationship, told in a very realistic and nuanced way. However, did I like Julia that much? Not particularly… She was really quite self-centered, barely listening to all her friends who seemed to relentlessly care about her even though she treated them like shit most of the time, quite frankly. Also, although obviously Sam is the bad guy here, Julia had been told that she was non-monogamous from the very beginning, so I don’t understand why she was so upset when Sam was non-monogamous? Also - how did she come to terms with her sexuality SO FAST?? She literally had one night of sex with a woman and immediately knew she was a lesbian, when I feel like it barely works like that in real life. 

Okay, now the complaints are over - this was a funny, light read that also covered an issue that isn’t often spoke about - abusive wlw relationships are very much real and more light should be shed on the dynamics of them. There were some great similes in here, and the motif of the letter writing was very sweet. A clear 3 stars!

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judepude's review against another edition

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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


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