Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills

30 reviews

smartcookiesca's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

lore_1703's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Overall: This book leaves me with some ‘what ifs’. There were a couple of amazing storylines and cute moments between the mmc & fmc, which made me enjoy this book. Other times I questioned the actions and motives of the main characters. The 13 reasons why vibe is strong with this one. I do enjoy a bit more dark or angsty high school story but this one was just not it for me. 

Reasons to bump this up your TBR: This book is for you if you don’t mind reading an angsty high school romance book. The love aspect of the story is enjoyable and I did like the honesty between the main characters. There was no miscommunication for example, which is a huge plus for me. 

Knox is a great mmc. He’s in my opinion a golden retriever boy wearing the ‘bad boy’ mask. He is very patient towards Ava and gives her all the respect and empathy she needs. 

Reasons to bump this down your TBR: With the title Dear Ava I expected many more letters and secret admirer cuteness. I would have loved to see more poems or texts where Ava and her secret-love interest talk, trust each other and feed their friendship. 

Some of the dialogue between Ava and Knox feels very ‘young’. 

The ending and epilogues felt rushed. The story is  slow paced and the tempo picks up a bit too much in the last 15% of the book. One epilogue would have been enough for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Suicide

monakersch's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

poupimali's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This was absolutely not what I was expected.
This is not just a light and smooth story about texts and letters exchanged with a secret admirer.
Yes you have that and this is cute
BUT 
This talks about serious triggers warning (rape, drugs and intoxication, mental health issues, suicide).
There is a HEA. This is a college romance but there are really heavy subjects all along.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment

madlove02's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

mallorym8's review against another edition

3.5

I absolutely loved Dane. He was my favorite and I definitely didn’t expect to cry during a heartbreaking scene with him and Knox. I loved Knox’s and Dane’s sibling relationship and I love how supportive Knox was of Dane. I liked Knox and Ava but I honestly think Dane was one my favorite characters in the book and I wish that we got more of him. This book was predictable but it was still good and I enjoyed reading it. I really wish Dane had his own book tho. I also felt really dumb because it took me way longer than it should’ve to realize out that it was Knox at the end of the book and not some random guy. I also really did like Knox  and I liked how under his cold exterior, he was just a kid who had been through more than he should’ve been and he was just trying to help his brother, Ava, and himself. Ava was an extremely strong character, especially after all that she had been through. I also loved Tyler and I loved that Ava was  such a great sister (basically a mother) to him. Also loved Wyatt and Piper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, and Abandonment

kjenae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

wow. 
Enchanted- taylor swift (their song) 

Ava and Knox’s relationship from the very beginning was very heartbreaking and complex. from the first moment i got to see them interact, i could tell that the chemistry was there. they were truly bound to fall in love. i truly believe that they’d meet and fall in love in every book universe.

• what happened to Ava that tragic night was absolutely heartbreaking and it was extremely infuriating to see the response that she got back from what she went through. no one really knows unless they’ve been in her position, but for Ava to be so strong and come back with a vengeance was so inspiring. and the way she cares so deeply for her brother, Tyler…she’s a great character

• Knox is also a very complex character. him, his brother and his dad have been through HELL. family means everything to him and it was beautiful to read about (although it was still heartbreaking w/ Dane and all). He desperately needed someone else in his corner, that being Ava. He was finally able to express how he felt about her even though he was scared because of what was happening with him and his family.

they were both broken and found something within each other, came back stronger individually and together

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse and Panic attacks/disorders

baileyt2424's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

ellielot's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Rape

Minor: Abandonment

melodine's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

Read this book because of a snippet off of tiktok and it ended up being borderline a type of book I wouldn't read but was quite enjoyable. The author gave a lot of heart and development to the characters. I don't love that they are in high school and I don't love that it was close to a bully romance but technically was not one. 

The story deals heavily with S/A and I think it is well done. Overall this book was much more than it seemed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Death of parent