Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

19 reviews

theirgracegrace's review

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

The Traitor Baru Cormorant asks the hard questions about what it means to rule in a way that very few court intrigues ever have. Baru's homeland has been conquered by the Masquerade, and she has spent her life preparing to take it down. But in order to get to the heart of its government, she needs to prove herself as the capable and brilliant ruler she is. Filled with enough worldbuilding and plot twists to keep Baru and the reader constantly guessing, I can say with certainty that I'll never read the likes of this book again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, and Cultural appropriation

untoworthy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

hedsek's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

3.75

This is a pretty difficult book to rate! I love the setting and the worldbuilding, although I think some of the details could have been repeated a bit more often because sometimes I felt like I was supposed to remember everything that was mentioned once for the rest of the book to understand what was going on. The plot was quite hard to follow sometimes (might also have to do with the fact that I read this before going to sleep), and I often felt like the motivations Baru had for her decisions were left implicit which confused me. Now that I have reached the ending of the book, this makes more sense though and I feel like I'll have to reread the book to fully appreciate the plot. 
Although I struggled through the first 2/3 of the book, I finished the rest in two days because the ending is just amazing and the buildup towards the climax is so well done. I am really glad I was convinced to continue reading after all. 
Finally, it is just so refreshing to read a fantasy book that is not the same white cishet patriarchal stuff I've come to expect from the genre so that is definitely a pro.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

jurizprudence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

pov: you open this expecting a witty review and plot summary but are instead greeted by a video of me screaming sobbing throwing up etc for 30 minutes straight

but really. this book is a masterpiece that examines an in-depth portrayal of colonization, morality, political machinations, and the horrors of empire. it's about a super smart and super repressed gay accountant and her singular goal to avenge her family and free her homeland by rising high enough in the Masquerade’s hierarchy to destroy it from within. lots of economics, finance, and monetary polices that will challenge your mind. the prose is immaculate and the plot and twists were finely executed. really dark and gritty, it tackles colonialism and its tolls on the oppressed and subjugated in a realistic way, and because of that, it is not an easy read. cw for almost everything, because this book (the whole series itself) does not hold back from horrifying topics. honestly one of the best books i've read, and i'm already calling it, also one of my favorite reads this year.

read this if you like smart and clever heroines, political intrigue, tragic sapphic romance, grotesque amount of pain and betrayal, and long-lasting emotional damage. the main ship can jam to my tears ricochet ‼

read this and get ready to be devastated by dashing lesbians with unlimited loyalty. come join me and come cry with me :'(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and War

Moderate: Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death and Trafficking

beehives's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and War

mayaccountant's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

misszoe's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

jbray1018's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

*screams internally forever*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Gaslighting

jamorjelly's review

challenging dark emotional tense 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? Yes

5.0

It’s one of those books where, deep down, you know what’s happening but you still can’t believe it. You see the signs but you can’t bring yourself to put the pieces together because the truth is so painful. I loved it, I really did, and I wish I knew how to express it more eloquently. Highly suggest checking trigger warnings because this book can be brutal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Genocide, and Rape