Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

4 reviews

kayladaila's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, and Biphobia

Moderate: Dysphoria, Murder, Death, Stalking, Death of parent, and Confinement

Minor: Grief and Forced institutionalization

andloveistoolong's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Child abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Medical content, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Addiction, and Suicide

jitterbun's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

I enjoyed everything about this book. The thing that makes this mystery work really well is the colorful characters. It's easy to believe any of the characters could be the murderer, but at the same time, like the protagonist Andy, you like them and want there to be another answer. This was somehow both uncomfortable and heartwarming at the same time. Heartwarming because Andy has finally found people who accept him as a gay man, and has many positive interactions with those in the household, but also uncomfortable because anyone in the household could be a murderer, and nobody wants to break up the safety of the house.

The book also does explore the benefits and hardships of living a secret double life. Lavender House serves as both a sanctuary and a prison to its residents, and best intentions often wind up manifesting into hurtful actions. 

Many people call this book a 'queer Knives Out" and would agree with that assessment. The characters' flaws make them fun to watch and there are a lot of fun elements in their interactions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Murder

patricktreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

A dark murder mystery set in the 50’s that is rough and not happy or smooth. 

The twists in this were everything. The discussion of hard to acknowledge topics like homophobia and police brutality was also a very important and well felt piece. It was made a part of the story and not just a plot point on the side. 

Please not content warnings before reading. This mystery is deep and can be triggering. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship