Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Sweetpea

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Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

14 reviews

izypup's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

If you watched the show first, the book is almost an entirely different story. Rhi is a wannabe reporter, there is an AJ, there is a Julia, and her dad is dead. Character names are the same but that's almost it. I'm pleased to report that Tink

doesn't die in this one

AJ is a teenager in this version but legally an adult so while iffy not technically anything wrong with it.

Rhi, to me, is both more and less likable in the book. And her actions make remotely more sense. Neither are better or worse, just different.

Focusing only on the book now:

Rhi obviously

has a TBI and PTSD

that makes her 'unsettling' but as a neurodivergent woman I also relate to the aspect of trying to mimic social behaviors and fit in but still having something innately 'off' about you. Also the love of Sylvanian families.

Her killing the cab driver was really where we see that she uses killing predators as a way to justify and because it's what her dad taught her but she is not an anti-hero or vigilante at her core. The cab driver repeatedly denies her drunken advances and just wants to take her home but she 'sees' the smile of other men in him and kills him anyway.

There's no doubt that Rhi is an unreliable narrator. We hear only her side and the snippets of what characters say to her.
I didn't realize this was a series getting into it and I probably won't be reading them since I thought the snippets were a 'jokey' Rhi gets published after all and it's her fictionalized exploits. But I guess it was real.
I might have been too generous with the rating but it was overall a fun and interesting enough read.
There is a character who has self-harm scars and threatens/attempts suicide throughout the book and is generally referred to as crazy

Content Warnings

louisa0021's review against another edition

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dark funny 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

4.0

Content Warnings

whackettreading's review

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dark 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

1.0

Poorly researched, only sticks to diary format part of the time, humour is crass and cruel with a character who is meant to be an unreliable narrator but who reliable tells you what she's lying about all the time.

Content Warnings

1989dearjohn's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

disguisedposer's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-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? Yes

4.0

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jordanez's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-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

3.0

Content Warnings

grunbean's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm not sure how I feel at the end of this book. There are parts I love. The beginning and the introduction of this witty but dark, and frankly mean, main character is engaging. There was a good chunk of the book where I was rooting for Rhiannon, even though her moral compass is clearly skewed.

I think things went downhill when it started becoming about the affair and her pregnancy. There was something uncomfortable with the age gap (though I think that's the point) but there was something that made it really hard to read those scenes without thinking ‘What on earth am I reading’.

My experience with the last part of the book made the rest of it sour. I did enjoy it, but not as much as I feel I could if it was just different. There's potential.

I have seen some comments on the remarks Rhiannon makes, particularly the comment on Taylor Swift. I have, in good faith, assumed that that's down to Rhiannon fundamentally being a bad person despite her rationalizing her actions. However, I do understand how these can leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Content Warnings