Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Close to Home by Michael Magee

16 reviews

swenja's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.0

It took me a while to get into it. The characters don’t seem that likable in the beginning and I’m not a huge fan of that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

Minor: Child abuse

jmyers1's review against another edition

reflective 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? Yes

3.0

I thought the narrator was incredible. Apart from that, I found that there wasn't really a plot to this book, it was more of just a narration of a normal person's life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual assault

rhibeetle17's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

emisbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

seeds_of_time's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence

rosy24's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

unfilteredlets's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

Tried to touch upon a lot of important themes , without any fil rouge to make it into a coherent story. Otherwise, a good enough debut — if you’re more into vibes than plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I just didn't vibe with it, unfortunately. 

pros:
- it did pick up at the end, in the last third or so when Sean finally got his life together a bit, and that was satisfying. 
- the writing is good, straight forward but creative at times.
- I did feel for Sean.
- it was a different sort of read anyway.

cons:
- it just felt like being on groundhog day for like the whole first half. Sean does the exact same thing of getting drunk and off his head with his mates over and over, and it was just sad and frustrating and boring.
- it felt like a lack of plot to me too, too much aimlessness. I get that that's the character but it was becoming unreadable to me.

so i didn't click with it, though I guess im glad I stuck it out as the bit at the end was the best and it was good to see Sean get himself together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Grief, and War

laurenrebecca8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

livloid's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

I really loved this book: its tone, its pace, its characters. Above all it was beautifully written.
It deals with trauma but in a way that isn’t over the top or graphic. i slowly developed real empathy for characters who at first i was inclined to judge for their decisions.
The book transitioned from a bleak setting for its characters, which I didn’t think they’d get past, to a hopeful ending. I left it with the feeling that things might get better after all (!)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

a large theme of the book is the brother’s recovery from childhood sexual assault by the stepfather