Reviews tagging 'Death'

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

14 reviews

maddiereadswords's review against another edition

5.0

 Oh, this one hits different in a post-Covid world. :) 

That being said, this is still my favorite book in the whole series, mostly because I would both kill and die for Ling Chan, disabled autistic ace-spec mean lesbian extraordinaire. <3 I literally don't even have coherent thoughts about this book, it's just so fucking good!! It's fun, spooky, and it both breaks and warms my heart at the same time, and I swear every time I read it those 600 pages feel even shorter. And that final meeting scene?? These angsty 1920s teenagers are my Avengers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Antisemitism, Confinement, Deportation, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Vomit

rainbeauregard's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Trafficking, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Vomit

jackierabbit's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This is the heftiest book in the series at 613 pages—and it’s obvious why. Bray immerses the plot in its surroundings. We don’t just see our characters deal with the sleeping sickness, we see people in nearby towns succumb to it, we see the treatment of Chinatown, we see the rise of the KKK and the beginning of popularized eugenics. 
Evie takes a backseat in this story to the lovely Henry and Ling, who’s friendship makes me feel like Gollum and his ring: preciousssss. However we do see Evie and co. and I hope Evie gets major character development because how she’s acting isn’t sustainable. Mabel deserves better, Sam is suave, Memphis & Theta are adorable, and Jericho…um…can walk off a cliff. 😁

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Alcohol

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I put off reading #2 because I was worried it wouldn’t live up to how much I enjoyed #1, but I was happy to be proven wrong. 

The grasp the author has on horror is nuanced and subtle at times and palpably visceral at others. 

I love the cast of characters, the people are so rich and full that I feel like I’m friends with them. I want to read everything ever written by Memphis, dance with Theta to Henry’s songs. I adore the addition of Ling to the story, she’s such a wonderfully no BS character.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Trafficking, Death, Ableism, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Racism, and Hate crime

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Animal death, Confinement, and Sexual content

justagrlandherdog's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

While this book didn’t scare me as much as the last, I think that actually hinders the book more than helped it. There’s wasn’t a sense of urgency or a time limit that had me flipping page after page to find out what happens. The character development was good and I continue to like each character. Sam and Evie’s storyline was my favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Vomit, Death, Homophobia, Trafficking, and Hate crime

ellanarose's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

typedtruths's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Homophobia

yaelaed's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Antisemitism, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

emilyplun's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Police brutality, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, and War

genny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ahhh! I loved the first book, and this one even more. This, I think, was a "smarter" mystery than the one in the first book. It let the author give insightful commentary on homophobia, racism, PTSD, etc., while making it all part of the main plot. The 1920's setting feels integral to the story instead of shallow window dressing. All the talk about eugenics made my skin crawl. It was also a hit emotionally

Spoiler

; my heart broke for Wai-Mae and Louis

! If you pay attention, it's quite easy to guess the "twists" but they were still impactful. As always, I loved Bray's descriptions of the many neighborhoods of New York - like a screenplay...I can imagine this working very well as a live action adaptation. I'm very attached to the main cast now and I bookmarked way too many Sam/Evie moments, haha. The ending

Spoiler

with them all gathered together as they talk about their powers, and then Will and Sister Walker walk in...

was perfectly cheesy, like a nod to superhero team-ups. I'm only halfway through this series but already dreading its end!

Again, gotta give props to the audiobook narration. The cast has grown larger yet LaVoy was still able to give everyone distinct voices. This is the longest audiobook I've listened to, but every second was worth it. It is...the elephant's eyebrows! (Sorry.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, and Vomit

Racism against Chinese people is tied to the central plot and is experienced by one of the main characters (Lin); there's name-calling, race-segregated establishments, and talk of "cleansing" America of "inferior races" (including Black people). Flashbacks of Henry's past show homophobia from his father, which ultimately leads to (violence):

Spoiler

Louis being beaten to death

. Theta has flashbacks to an abusive relationship (w/ physical harm). Numerous people die throughout the book. Suicide:

Spoiler

Henry's mom suffered from mental illness and attempted suicide; Jericho helped a suffering soldier commit suicide.

Trafficking:

Spoiler

Wai-Mae was deceived into becoming a prostitute.

And I'm not sure this would count as alcoholism, so I didn't tag it accordingly, but Evie drinks heavily throughout the book and is often inebriated.