Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova

19 reviews

carcinokattastic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol

snazzyrhombus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i was recommended this by my gf because she said it was amazing - at first and even half way through i wasn't super convinced of the hype, the first half is very slow paced and the whole book you essentially live alongside the main character while she works at this cinema, meeting and getting to know the people there. at first i thought nothing super noteable was going to happen throughout the entire book, it was just a slice of life style thing, but then some big events start happening around halfway and the story takes such a dark and gorey turn.  from gross customers to gruesome events this book has quite a lot of disgusting elements honestly which was quite interesting. 

there are a lot of random horrifying events that are never explained though, kind of frustrating but a cool touch

e.g. the other screen room with the dead naked man in it like what the hell was goinf on there

the last handful of chapters go so so fast especially in comparison to the rest of the book but i think it works well

considering it's representative of the job they all cared for completely transforming into something awful after iris died

and really makes the run up to the finale quite gripping.

i loved the writing style, despite a lot of gross and gorey details so much of it is phrased so beautifully

especially near the end where she imagines cutting down the chandelier and compares it to a big release of tears

 

something i found kind of weird that may not be intentional is that the main character (and therefore me as the reader) felt so lonely, even when

she made friends with and hung out with the other staff lots, and was sleeping with paolo a lot, you're always so in her head that she feels quite dissociated and isolated

she always seemed to be talking about herself in the present and other people in the past which made her seem super disconnected.

idk if the author was trying to make a point about SOCIETY or just trying to write a whacky book but i do feel like it paints a horrifying picture of the capitalisation of small businesses and how it affects people within the business which is interesting but also extremely sad

i didn't expect the ending to be quite so sad either, kind of leaves you feeling a bit depressed when you finish it honestly, depressed and shocked lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

blymanor's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Pregnancy

infinitelibrary's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Xenophobia

katerina_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

blklagoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Maybe it’s the former disgusting-Edinburgh-cinema-employee in me speaking but this was the most visceral and vivid book I’ve ever read. It hit too close to my own experience, in the most eerie way, until about the last 30 pages. I’m not sure how wide the appeal is as my connection is so personal but the descriptions objectively are equally beautiful and horrific. I need to talk about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

bocker_enligt_angelica's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Ja…. Vad ska man skriva? Det här är inte något för den svagmagade. Gränsen mellan verklighet och vad som är en del av de drogpåverkade karaktärerna är knappt synbar. 
Jag kan känna popcorndoften även då jag lagt boken ifrån mig och scener ur boken får mig att känna mig allmänt olustig. 
Jag är imponerad och jag är glad att jag läst den men jag vill nog inte uppleva den igen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol

moa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

linguaphile412's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship