Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

8 reviews

missmarguerita's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-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

4.75

An incredible commentary on motherhood, failure, and what it means to be queer in a heterosexist society. The definition of a riveting piece of gossip literature.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bellist's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is a perfect example of how to write unlikable characters in a way that’s still compelling for a reader. I loved Arnett’s exploration of what happens when marriage and parenthood go wrong, and how destructive stagnation can be when  a person refuses to make decisions that could improve their inner and outer worlds. I think Sammie is fairly narcissistic, but she’s also desperately alone and dealing with addiction — this book offers a devastating, realistic depiction of alcohol dependence. I agree with other criticisms re: Samson’s behavior sometimes being inconsistent or reading as autistic. But I think the text made it clear that he didn’t have any diagnosed conditions. He read more as a child who was born bratty and never nurtured or supported by his parents. I loved how Arnett wove Florida culture and nature into her scene setting, and her brief forays into the minds of side characters. She was also very good at writing life’s subtle indignities. This is an interesting depiction of lesbian life/marriage/motherhood/middle age. It’s a kind of extended character study of a stubborn, selfish and heartbroken person who will not get a grip, and the ripple effects that behavior has on her familial relationships/her son in particular.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

sadig27's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

jes312's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, and Pregnancy

cassidys_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse

angel_hardy's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Sammie Lucas is a lesbian mother who, on the surface, has the perfect queer family unit. A beautiful home, a wife she loves, Monika, and their son, Samson. Everything is perfect, except...Monika isn't around a whole lot, and if she's honest, she's afraid of her own son...

This book had me by the throat from the first sentence and then it wouldn't let me go for the next five days. It didn't matter what I was doing, I wanted to pick this up and shut out the world. Don't get me wrong, it's not a riveting tale or anything. It's not plot driven at all, it's mainly a character study of Sammie and how she's clearly very troubled and was never meant to be a mother. I hated her with every fiber of my being. I hated her on every page, every sentence. She was at best, whiny, and at worst, violent. It was crazy how unreliable of a narrator she was. She also struck me as someone who would go to a Planned Parenthood protest on the weekend, but I'm not going to tell you why.

I was so fascinated by this terrible character and her terrible interactions with her son and wife, fascinated by her dealing with religious trauma, her hypocrisy, her complete inability to connect with her son and then complaining about how he was suuuuch a problem. It was insane. The behavior of everyone in this book is absolutely unhinged, but Sammie takes the cake.

It's safe to say this book had my attention, but that being said, the writing wasn't really remarkable and the references to teeth (other people's teeth, what Sammie's teeth were doing, biting, etc) seemed a bit shoe-horned in and obvious at times. I also thought I was going to combust at times at how ableist the treatment of Samson as a character was. You can chalk that up to his parents being bad people - and they are, but it was just too much for me and it made me *too* angry.

Anyway I know that I'm probably going to read a lot of GR reviews calling this bad lesbian rep, but sometimes even queer people are bad and unhinged, and I think it's important to write about that. Argue with the wall. Overall, a really intriguing read.

I forgot to mention that there are little vignettes at the end of every chapter that show contrast between how Sammie sees certain situations happening in a chapter vs. what an outsider experiences and I think they were genuinely my favorite part of the book and I can't believe I didn't mention this somewhere above. Oops! Here it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

- This book was by no means an easy read - like Arnett's previous work, it was even downright difficult and uncomfortable at times. However, I truly appreciate that we've arrived at a place where not every queer character must be a perfect person, and we can explore messy and unlikable characters.
- I was there for the examination of queer adult/married life, and how the characters struggled with trying to match heterosexual norms while also losing their connections to other queer people.
- Every character in this book is just horrid and makes such terrible decisions, and yet you can't help but feel for them. It's quite a trick, and Arnett is the master of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol