Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Pod by Laline Paull

11 reviews

pinkfluffygoat's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, and Animal death

withlivjones's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

An excellently-crafted story of belonging and survival in the face of ecological crisis, from the perspective of marine life. Paull does a fantastic job of bringing the ocean to life and making every character seem so… human? It’s also super clear how badly the climate crisis has affected the oceans and their wildlife, and Paull doesn’t sugarcoat this at all - don’t go into this book thinking it’s going to be a whimsical story about dolphins because it’s sooo dark. Beautifully written with a lot of emotion - the only thing I didn’t like was that the romance (although I wouldn’t even call it that) at the end felt really rushed to the point that it didn’t make a lot of sense character-wise, it would have been better with a couple more chapters dedicated to developing the relationship between the characters. Other than that, though, I loved it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

bookbinbaby's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is a story of our times, it will haunt and inspire in equal measure, it felt like 'Game of Thrones' meets 'Seaspiracy' for me. Brutal. Reflective. Memorable. The characters are each very interesting in how they are individually and where they interact with each other. Holds a mirror up to how we take and overpower the natural world and don't appreciate the fine balance of mother Earth and are selfish as a race and unnecessarily cruel. Laline Paull and how she is able to draw readers in to a world and society we would recognise but populate it with cetaceans and other sea fellows just amazes me and is a talent that is as unique as it is captivating deserves a lot more recognition.  I'll be reading Bees by her next, and will appreciate the natural world even more in an entirely different way than I ever did before. Powerful.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Addiction, Rape, Misogyny, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I can completely see that this book would not suit everyone, but I really loved it. There were some real surprises in here, amongst the darkness. I generally love fiction with animal protagonists anyway, so maybe I am slightly biased, but I really appreciated this book for it’s beauty, rawness, brutal honesty, heart wrenching twists, and also the rays of hope.
If you loved The Bees, and The Handmaids’s Tale, I’d highly recommend it, but I would definitely check trigger warnings if you need to do so, some sections are brutal to read, representing the animals’ survival and struggles in graphic scenes, so please go in forewarned. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Death, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Medical trauma, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

vrhayes08's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Violence, Sexism, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Addiction

kwahl's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Excrement, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, War, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Vomit, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

readersreadingnook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Animal death, Violence, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Misogyny and Addiction

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is by far the weirdest book I've ever read. And I was fascinated!
It's a book about humans ruining nature and disturbing the balance in the oceans, about the changing life underwater, (found) family and survival.... told from the perspective of a few dolphins and other sea creatures.
This is a short book, but it took me longer than expected to read it because I'm not familiar with all the marine life vocabulary. But I liked the writing in general and loved the atmosphere and setting. And I got very emotionally attached to the characters. Every time I paused my reading, I was pulled back to the book immediately and wanted to pick it up again as quickly as possible.
The plot mainly follows one female dolphin, but it's interrupted by glimpses into the lives of other sea dwellers. I was interested in all of them, and it was satisfying to learn about these cool species and how their stories intertwined.
I have to say that the story gets really brutal and there are too many rape scenes in my opinion.
I think I have to read The Bees now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Addiction, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

leilorenzo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

WOW!
I saw Leena's video "Reacting to the Women’s Prize 2023 long list", where she mentioned this one. It intrigued me. 
Then she mentioned how the cover did not really express all the intricacies of this story and decided I had to read it right then and there. 
It did NOT disappoint. Actually, it has been an excellent experience. From the very beginning you get submerged into this world of highly social individuals and find you love Ea, and her mother, sympathise with Chit, hate Split and so on and so on.
The way Laline Paull manages to weave dolphin and marine life structure, relationships, behaviours and how humans are destroying all that is marvellous, as well as despair-inducing. 
I strongly urge everyone to grab this one, I loved it.

TW: rape, blood

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Animal death, Rape, Violence, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, and Injury/Injury detail