Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

11 reviews

sofiam19's review against another edition

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

3.25

A bit darker than I was expecting but liked the twists and turns overall 
Could’ve probably left out the hospital rape scene no? Not sure how it added to the story after knowing what happens to her prior by Edward
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show_no_mercy's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

Thrillers are not my thing, I'm sure good ones exist but I am not willing to dig through the slush pile to find them and this book belongs on that pile. The writing was fine, overusing short sentences not withstanding, although I felt the coma descriptions were too purple prose and could have been cut without much loss. The jumping between timelines was pretty annoying too. There was some graphic r*pe in here that felt thrown in for shock value and the fallout of which was never dealt with. This would not have happened to a man main character in the same position. This was misogyny in action and if you disagree you are incorrect because we cannot encounter a woman without being told whether or not the main character thinks she could stand to lose a few pounds. It doesn't make it not sexism just because a woman does it. We have a diary from a supposedly smart 11 year old who reads a lot but has never heard of a will or a bar tab. The attempt at OCD that started promisingly but sadly fell flat, I'm not an expert but the people I am aware of with OCD say it comes with intrusive thoughts we never see even though we are in Amber's head and is made worse in stressful situations which Amber's never really seems to be. At times I wanted to know what would happen next but the ending had no faith in itself so just threw everything at the wall to see which twist would stick and wound up being a hecking mess. Also the reading comprehension questions at the end were a choice. Don't worry you were heavy handed enough that I noticed your use of the colour red I do not need to complete an assignment on it ma'am.
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bechlette47's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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abalabaly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Make sure to check trigger warnings before reading!! I didn’t like the fatphobic/anti-fat descriptions used for some characters, especially at the beginning. Aside from that, solid book with a good flow and kept me engaged. I’m looking forward to reading more by the author. 
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carimz's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-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

3.75

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melaneyp's review against another edition

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3.0

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yaboigrass's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

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magellen's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

While the plot is twisty and really takes flight at about 75%, you spend most of the book bludgeoned by the phrase 'let herself go' or some adjacent negative assessment regarding every single woman in the book. Seriously it is exhausting, it rises in most chapters, whether it's a pov talking about herself, or her mother, or a coworker, just an endless loop of hate that doesn't add anything and makes the book feel particularly dated. 

The book is a great example of unreliable narration but is likewise tedious in stretches where the mc walks forward and backwards through her thoughts with zero self trust and yes, toxic relationships do instill distrust in one's self, but it just feels like bloat in the narrative when it doesn't stop. Likewise it breaks your trust in all the narratives, breaks the momentum the book has built and becomes a muddle halfway thru. Intentionally done and layered as it is it mostly works but I feel like I only began enjoying the book in the last quarter and prior to that it was simply 'welcome to untreated paranoia'.

Matters did hit a hat on a hat level as the book progressed. An antagonist born of the antagonist born of the protagonist. Yes Edward is a successful red herring but god what a loose thread that could have not been in the book at all except for sexual violence. While I'm pleased for the mc cleaning up her psycho sister in the end (gotta think with your head and not your fists, well done taylor) the bracelet reemerging had me rolling my eyes. Just close it out, jesus christ.

Every character is unlikable, no one ever has an honest conversation and yes sure Sometimes I lie, but the inconsistency and internalized body judgement gets in the way of it being a truly satisfying read.
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ahudd's review against another edition

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dark slow-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

1.0

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ekmoore11's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

5.0

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