Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

12 reviews

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

caseythereader's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Thanks to Forge Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - LAVENDER HOUSE is a wholly unique book: murder mystery, gothic tale, queer historical fiction, and explorations of how much you're willing to give up for safety, along with what you owe others vs looking out for only yourself.
- Every time I opened this book the world around me completely disappeared and I sank fully into Lavender House and the people in it. Each character was fighting their own internal battles and I felt for them all.
- I think avid mystery readers will probably figure out whodunnit, but even once I got it, I was still on the edge of my seat watching it all play out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content