Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

13 reviews

lue_moon's review

dark 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Even as someone who doesn't typically read horror (my overactive brain gives me nightmares way to easily with creepy stuff), I ended up really loving this book. Though I can see how this book might not be for everyone. Be forewarned, it is creepy as hell and can sometimes feel a bit chaotic, but it contains a lot of beautiful writing and story that drew me in. I'm always a big fan of houses that become their own character in books and this one becomes as much a part of the book as the main characters. It also speaks to exploration of identity, family rupture and connection, and stories washed over and untold by colonialist revision of history.

Additional content warning for bugs, so many bugs in many creepy ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

em_of_swags's review against another edition

4.0

liked it but the "mythology" of it felt kind of all over the place. brb getting Vietnamese food now

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

honeybeewitched87's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying and Fire/Fire injury

lunarexorcist's review

dark mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

i thought this was a new adult book until like twenty pages in my bad. i was so let down jade was 17 and not... like... 22.

i cried at the last forty pages but then went "what. what? what???" until the end. unhinged. i cant decide if it was unhinged in a genius or stupid way, but i will say that

being horny for a ghost that is horny for you also in a toxic yuri way and also a "wow you are so repressed colonialism slash misogyny slash queerphobia is a hell of a thing huh"

is one of the more unique interpretations of "this house eats people" ive seen. 

i think the fact everyone sucks so bad throws people off but that just made my chest ache with how real it felt. that was my dad. thats my eldest daughter trauma. im gonna lose it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

parkergarlough's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Colonisation

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol

uncreativeoops's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

The vibes were immaculate, which is pretty important for a gothic horror novel, and the author managed to create an eerie and tense atmosphere while also describing everything so aesthetically. The descriptions felt very... indirect? I sometimes had to reread parts because I wasn't sure what was actually happening but that is by no means a criticism; I adored the language. Plotwise however, I struggled a bit. Haunted houses only work if the characters have a good reason to be in them and not leave once, you know, they realize they might die. In this case, there were reasons for the main character not just going home, but they weren't strong enough for me. I got her motivations and I liked how her struggles with her family and her identity played out, but her behavior in the house was just ridiculous. And some of it seemed like it only happened to set up conflict between characters, the main thing that didn't work for me. Nearly every thing that characters got angry about was so obviously only there to create a shocking reveal and lead to an argument and some of the "dark secrets" I just straight up didn't consider as bad things. The romance also suffered from this.
My favorite thing however were the shorter horror chapters and how horror as a genre was used to discuss colonialism, racism, and sexism. Gothic horror has always been used to portray societal issues with supernatural metaphores and this was done so well here. I also have never read YA horror before and was pleasantly surprised how well these two can be mixed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, and Car accident

weirdassfanta's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Beautifully written. This book gives you slight chills while showing that you are allowed to be angry and make mistakes. Also deals with colonization and struggling with your identity. It’s a great read for body horror lovers who are looking for something diverse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

I will also warn people about the detailed and common talk of bugs in places they shouldn’t be, such as skin and food, as this is a trigger for me. So please be conscious of that if you decide to read this book.

nutmegandpumpkin's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

The author did a fantastic job with the actual horror aspects & overall creepiness. The characters were OK but not entirely likable apart from the younger sister IMO. The writing was also just okay with the exception of a couple of great lines sprinkled here and there. The story felt VERY slow yet some of the aspects felt rushed at the end. 

I’m honestly having a hard time pinpointing how I feel about this book. I found it somewhat enjoyable but not extremely memorable. I think the potential is there but it didn’t quite reach it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Alcohol

beaubaggins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail