Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

80 reviews

oilver_'s review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, and Dysphoria

threeundertwopnw's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-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

The pace was very slow and repetitive and the plot tended to zigzag around, but the writing was beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

I loved that the main character was trans, especially in a time when it was illegal. We need more books like this where trans characters are seen as normal, even in a time when it was criminalized. They have always been part of every population, and they always will be. 

The story unraveled at a good pace and the romance developed organically. It was perfect. So often, romances are rushed to get to the sex scenes, or they are sappy and unappealing. This one was well done. Also really liked the relationship between Justin and his sister.

Book was effective at gathering all the trauma that took place before the characters were even introduced and helping them work through their personal tragedies, bringing them to closure, and helping them move beyond the healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nothingtosay's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, War, and Classism

akswhy's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.25

I love the concept of this book and the queer characters are handled with care, but the plot is typically melodramatic for the period romance genre. There was not a lot of comedy to break up the heavy drama, and the plot hinges on a very abstract pair of villains that don’t seem to do anything bad until the last 50 pages. I liked the characters and relationships, but the plot and tone didn’t work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia

erika_winters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I think this is the first time I’ve ever read a historical romance (as far as my memory is concerned), and I loved reading a story centered around a transgender woman named Viola (love the Twelfth Night reference here). Alexis Hall skillfully crafted this book where being trans was not a main source of conflict, but something celebrated and loved. I appreciated all the characters close to Viola, like her sister-in-law Louise, for example, care for Viola and never question her identity. The romance between Viola and Gracewood is beautiful and so well-written; the friends to lovers motif really created a layer of understanding and affection between the two as they grappled with their identities, PTSD, and for Gracewood, a disability that he has to come to come to terms with in a society that he feels will judge him. Viola is not the only character coming to terms with her gendered society; Gracewood is too in all of his personal struggles with drug and alcohol addiction from PTSD from Waterloo, and the harsh upbringing with a callous father who taught him a suffocating model of masculinity that he feels stuffed into. Overall, it is through each other that they find their strengths and discuss their weaknesses, which made this an effective romance, in my opinion! AND all the queer representation really made my heart happy; so, come for the regency romance, stay for the queer joy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Drug use

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Outing

shae_purcell's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

PTSD; Misgendering; mentions of drowning, corpses

singsandreads's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

Slow and brooding. Childhood friends to lovers, but she faked her death while fighting in the war. This book just didn’t do it for me. Great trans rep, but I’m not super into historical books. We also went on far too long about his substance abuse problems. 100 pages could have easily been cut in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Transphobia and War

orangewitchling's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I really enjoyed the trans perspective on the Victorian romance setting. I think because the Victorian romance plot is so predictable, it was easier to focus on the characters point of view since it was all from a non-heteronormative perspective. Even though, I empathize with the LGBTQ community, I don’t have a grasp on all their struggles, so it was very refreshing to get the trans perspective in a relatable way. on a different note, it was a slow book because and there was a lot of angst at the beginning with plenty of feeling exploration. However, I think that it worked in favor of the character growth and the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Classism

shinypurplepants's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted

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

4.75

Lovely mix of yearning and romance 🥰 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Transphobia