Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Acts of Desperation

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

10 reviews

everydayesterday's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It doesn't stand out in any particular way, and there's not exactly a plot, but it's just well-written.

Content Warnings

folklorisms's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

i’ll be straight up i didn’t like this book for like 30% of it but then something changed and i went full 180. tbh i thought this was going to be a commentary on a woman being violently obsessed with an awful guy but it turned into a commentary on the complexities of human nature and self-worth. like what in the actual. and there were so many banger lines that blew my mind so much that i kind of had to sit with it for a second. anyways sorry megan nolan my bad

Content Warnings

gabriellegoldenhour's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional 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

2.75

I recently found out that a new favorite genre of mine is “delulu females”, I thought this would be another but really it just gave me haunting reflections of my past. Not everything was the same, obviously, but feelings and scenarios of my youth in similar situations mirrored this unnamed narrator. I feel like when I started really liking the book it fell off and just stayed flat for me.

Content Warnings

jadelouise_r's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

ciaranugent's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

Content Warnings

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Wow, this was incredible. The writing was so raw, vulnerable and personal, and yet utterly intoxicating.

The book centred on the whirlwind ‘romance’ between the narrator and Ciaran, laying bare the destructive force of obsessive love on the self. The narrator’s point of view, despite being unnamed, was so intimate that you felt everything that she went through.

Interweaved with the affecting prose was nuanced and edifying commentary on sex, gender, consent, power and patriarchy, the male gaze and the violence of sex. The flash-forwards to 2019 Athens were rich and clear in these perspectives, providing a stunning contrast to the dizziness of the narrator’s thoughts and experiences in the main timeline.

Overall, a staggering and important debut which left me stewing in thought for a while after.

Content Warnings