Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Swamp Story by Dave Barry

8 reviews

leahrreads's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

Full of wacky characters and lots of use of drugs/weed that contributed to lot of the story. It wasn't my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, and Alcohol

sashdb's review

adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.5

a rip-roaring maelstrom of murky  comedic trouble 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Murder

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Car accident

Everglades alligator is the animal death in question; someone shoots it in the head when it tries to attack another person/animal.

aharper's review

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

arthur_pendrgn's review

medium-paced

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

1.75

TW: threats of rape
The crowd scene near the end was exactly why I stay away from crowds.

It's surprisingly violent for a tongue in cheek book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Animal death

bookshelf_al's review

funny fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcoholism

waterbear0821's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

4.0

I love Dave Barry. I grew up on his audiobooks on car trips with my family and this book was absolutely a comfort read and “junk food” for my brain. When I just want to enjoy a story, Dave Barry is a safe bet. I scream laughed multiple times. If you know anything about him or his writing, you already know what to expect: wacky characters, outlandish bad guys, madcap hijinks, wild animal cameos, and extreme Florida-ness in general. This book doesn’t disappoint, but at times it’s hard to read. Yes, we understand they are bad guys, but there are only so many times I want to read them threaten to commit sexual violence. Happily, as with all Barry’s novels, it’s all tied up nicely with a bow at the end. Enjoy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, and Violence

chailady's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

I love reading Dave Barry’s columns in the New York Times. This is the first novel I’ve read by him and while very witty with some extremely funny situations, overall it felt a bit forced. However, with that being said, I did enjoy reading it. Swamp Story has some interesting characters. I found Jesse, the young mother trapped by her situation, to be realistic. I liked her. Her boyfriend, and father of the baby, was a selfish, uncaring person. With that knowledge, Jesse finds the treasure, keeps it a secret, but unknowingly the evil brothers discover the gold and follow Jesse. Now add in another pair of brothers, the broke owners of the Bortle Brothers Beer and Bait, plus a drunk newspaperman, and the mysterious swamp creature story is created. Simple story, but told well. There’s good and evil, the innocent and those who’ll take advantage of the innocent. Plus throw in a few greedy people, politics, a wild boar, treasure hunting, and environmental issues, and voila…a story only Dave Barry could tell. 
This was a 3+ rounded up to 4 star read.  As always, all opinions are mine alone. 

Thank you to NetGalley  and publisher, Simon and Schuster, for the opportunity to read Swamp Story. The book is scheduled for publication May 1, 2023. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Drug use