Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

42 reviews

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

nervousleigh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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: Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Outing

Moderate: Animal death

barometz's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Self harm, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Blood

theochick's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

Super gripping mystery— I heard this described as “queer 50s Knives Out” and that’s a pretty fair comparison

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement

thatchickengirl23's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical content

cigarete_smoke's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Alcohol and Classism

eedle_cacleberry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Grief

Minor: Confinement

quercine's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.5

I am not easily surprised in mysteries. I usually have them figured out by the end of the first act. This one kept me guessing. The story focuses on true to reality queer struggles while remaining hopeful and determined. Themes include community versus isolation, queer perseverance, and loyalty. The protagonist is flawed but lovable, and I loved seeing him grow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Outing

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Classism

olivialandryxo's review

challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Though this was a good book, one I did enjoy reading, it’s also one that seems weaker as I continue to think about it. What made for an intriguing premise was, unfortunately, a rather anticlimactic story. There was a whole lot of talking about not a lot of doing, and come the end of the book, the explanations for everything felt flimsy. Maybe it’s on me for wanting a thriller from what’s clearly a mystery, but I feel like mysteries should still have some elements of drama and intensity. I didn’t get that here.

I did like the characters, though, and there’s just… There’s something uniquely compelling to me, as a queer person, about queer historical fiction. No matter how difficult it can be to read, to see the horrifying ways our predecessors were treated and the heartbreaking lengths they had to go to for their own safety, there’s something to be said about seeing that we’ve always been here, and we’ve always persisted. That’s what these characters do, too—persist.

So, yeah. Some things worked for me in this book, others didn’t, but overall, I did like it, and I do want to read the second book. I want to see more of Andy and the Lavender House family, and hopefully, I’ll really like it.

Representation:

• gay protagonist
• Mexican lesbian side character
• bisexual Jewish side character
• sapphic side characters
• achillean side characters (one is also Filipino)
• sapphic side couples (f/f)
• achillean side couple (m/m)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Confinement and Religious bigotry

All things tagged graphic are explicitly on-page, in the form of various homophobic slurs, the protagonist being severely beaten for being queer, and the protagonist thinking numerous times about a suicide plan. He never does follow through, but it’s there all the same. Things tagged minor are in relation to a side character’s backstory, briefly mentioned in one chapter near the end of the book.

urlocalrachael's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol