Reviews tagging 'War'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

12 reviews

maddiereadswords's review against another edition

4.5

I really thought that I just wasn't a fan of noir detective fiction in general, but turns out I'll read and enjoy just about anything if you make it gay enough. I flew through this book in two sittings over the course of an afternoon, I literally couldn't put it down. I'm not a huge mystery reader, so even though I figured it out by the end, it really had me guessing. I fell in love with the entire cast of characters, and I cannot wait to read more of this series!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, and Alcohol

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kappafrog's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this. I read it very quickly because I wanted to find out the answer to the mystery. However, the main character had me in two minds. There were heart-wrenching aspects to his story, and there were times when it made me really smile seeing how much he was starting to accept himself. However, I did not find it enjoyable to read a character arc that consisted of "cop realises how bad the stuff he lets other cops get away with was." I'm glad he realised and learned and found a way to move forward in life, but I was with Judy on this one. It was hard to sympathzie with him, especially after

he remembered letting cops get away with raping lesbians. Jesus, that was bad, and just immediately brushed past.

I'm a little mixed on how the end played out as well. It seemed like Alice was way too obvious a candidate from the start, so I had fun thinking about which of the others it was going to be. But then when it turned out to be Alice and she was just a serial murderer, well, it was a little meh for me. The boldness of a story where almost all the characters are queer so one of them gets to be the villain without being the token queer villain got diluted by it being the only straight suspect who did it after all. A fair subversion, given the long history of queer and queer-coded villains, but less thought-provoking and innovative than it seemed at first. Also, we really just glossed over how Margo covered for her mother's murder for YEARS, and how Pearl killed a private investigator at the end of the book!

I really loved the way the setting of the house was described, with all the flowers and trees and the sense of seclusion. My favourite character was definitely Pat. I would have been happy to see more of his life! I liked the doctor-turned-bartender a lot too. Usually I gravitate towards queer women in books, especially historical ones, but it was harder to connect with the women in this book. I think it was just obvious that the author was writing what he knew with the queer men so their feelings and personalities shone through a lot more strongly than those of the women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and War

exhumedprince's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, and Outing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: War

potatoaficionado's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.5

So glad Kirsten recommended this to me! Basically a big historical queer mystery. Already have the next one requested from the library. The audiobook narrator was really good too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: War

monroebays's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely devoured this book!! Rosen does such a great job of making us root for every one of the characters, and suspect them at the same time. Despite having a huge content warning for homophobia, it doesn’t feel too heavy or hopeless. I fell in love with this found family, and was on the edge of my seat for fear of it falling apart!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Transphobia and War

summermorning's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War

leanniefae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, War, and Classism

educatorgams's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

The mystery is well written and the characters while not all fully three dimensional feel fleshed out and engage your attention as you read. This is the first I’m a series and you get the feeling all of the characters have a part to play as the series moves forward. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexism and War

mnerd63's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: War

missjeann's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and War