Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

48 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

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

katiedid4's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Stalking, and Murder

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

dogearedbooks's review against another edition

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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Grief and Murder

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

phoebenotbuffay's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.75

The way the author develops the MMC turns this book into a bit of a coming of age story. Very poignant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Gaslighting

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

kam_h's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I think this book was a pretty good start to a series.  I enjoyed the characters a lot, and a queer 1950s mystery is definitely my cup of tea. I think my biggest disappointment was the mystery itself it wasn't very shocking or hard to figure out. However, this book was used to introduce a lot of characters I assume will be reoccurring, and if my suspicions are correct, this was more of an introductory novel than just a mystery.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

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