Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Pod by Laline Paull

9 reviews

bethtrigg's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Rape

Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, Bullying, Death, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence

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

herondaleducks's review against another edition

sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I didn't enjoy this at all. This did not have the cohesion of story telling that The Bees had. I admire the message but I disliked every second of reading this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Animal death, Trafficking, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Gore, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, and Mental illness

mdking's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? No

4.75

This is one of the best books I have ever read! 

This is a mesmerising read. If you love to see the world from different points of view, this is a phenomenal read. 

I was sceptical that a story written from the POV of dolphins would be anything remarkable, but this book has beautiful writing, powerful tribal conflicts, rich interior lives of characters you really care about, and manages to explore issues of global warming, plastic pollution and hunting.

I cannot recommended this more highly! 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

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

katewhite77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A strange book which would not be everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use

mappy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-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

3.75

If I could describe this novel in one word, it would be 'immersive'. 

It's easy to be skeptical going into this novel. Told in the limited third perspective of marine animals, at first it feels uncomfortable, gimmicky even. But Paull does an incredible job of convincing the reader that they are witnessing something new, otherworldly. 

This is a horror of the worst kind: based on real events, experienced through the eyes of innocents. It's violent and unforgiving, but in the end I couldn't help feeling that a lot of it was gratuitous. Nevertheless, this one will sit with me for a long time. 

Read if you like David Attenborough, fish orgies and lyrical prose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Drug use and Addiction