Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

54 reviews

crystalisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

kj468's review

1.5

I did not like this; it did not make me feel good. I probs should have known better than to read a story about an ex cop (who JUST stopped being a cop), especially during a time when homosexual acts were illegal. Police brutality is graphic and discussed too much for my comfort. I didn’t love any of the characters. The method of murder was interesting, but that was the most interesting part of the mystery. The whodunit part was lackluster.

It’s a mystery, so obviously I wasn’t expecting the vibes of a romance novel, but they were still darker than I prefer. Other people with different tastes will probably like this better; good on them.

Also — I found it really boring and only finished to see the resolution of the murder plot, skimming the last 40% of the book. I genuinely wish I had dnf’d at lie 10% — or better yet, page two when he’s having suicidal thoughts. I stuck it out mainly because 1) I bought the book and 2) I read and loved another book by the author (Camp) so I had some misguided trust in the author.

Cw for graphic violence, police brutality, pervasive homophobia throughout the whole book, injury (due to police violence), and suicidal thoughts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

craftyhilary's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

This slow burn mystery is rife with the homophobia of the period and centers the challenges faced by its predominantly queer characters. The keen despair of disgraced former police officer Andy Mills, recruited to investigate the death of the wealthy matriarch Irene Lamontaine, is hard to bear, as is the emotional and physical violence he and others experience both on page and off. But the payoff is well worth it, and I am excited to see what the future holds for this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

definestrange's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

raptorq's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexual content, and Death of parent

xeniba's review

challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-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? No

3.5

It was a super quick read for me. I figured out the murderer super early on in the book (chapter 3, maybe?), but the mystery seemed to take a backseat to the “slice of life of a white, gay, former cop in the 50s” part of the book. I found parts of it to be quite dark in a way that didn’t fit with the overall tone of the book. I’d love to get to know Pat and Elsie better. Will probably read more in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

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

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

So while this book isn’t what I’d call a historical queer “Knives Out,” it is many other wonderful things. Yes, the plot of this book theoretically focuses on the murder of a family matriarch and our protagonist who is a recently fired queer SFPD cop who is hired to investigate that murder, but it becomes so much more. This book is ultimately about coming to terms with who you truly are, family dynamics, and the complexity of love. 
I really loved the storyline and the characters were very well developed with a nice level of depth. I really connected more to the characters than I expected to and there were simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking moments that surprised me.
I really enjoyed this one and learned that there are more books featuring the main character that I will definitely be picking up very soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Confinement

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Murder

Minor: Sexism

adearen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Classism