Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

47 reviews

arbramirez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

vexatiousbird's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

It does well at depicting escalating abuse and makes it clear why the protagonist doesn’t leave after the early warning signs, and it’s written in a conversational style that makes it a quick read. The protagonist is intentionally unsympathetic to highlight how even unsympathetic people can be victims, but that presents a challenge for the reader. At least for me, the basic sympathy for his suffering and desire for him to escape terrible abusive circumstances didn’t extend to much longer term emotional investment in him as a character in the extended aftermath. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Incest

axelgrcia's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

i was absolutely ENTHRALLED with this debut novel! jonah as our MC made me want to cry and fight for him (super obvious red flags aside!), especially since it gets pretty dark and each chapter im just waiting for the next sucker punch. just go in with an open mind, especially since this novel really does a good job at providing a dark lens into how predatory some relationships can be, and how especially vulnerable queer youth can be. on that note i can’t wait to see what other stories this author comes out with!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

Minor: Homophobia

aely's review

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

This book was extremely depressing. Jonah simply wanted to have a roof over his hand, and what happened to him was truly awful to read.

Parks-Ramage managed to write realistic characters who go through SO much trauma, with a bittersweet ending that left me feeling… complicated.

My only critique would be that the book felt so depressing and hopeless that at times it was very hard to return to the story.

Other than that, the book is a grim cautionary tale about abusive relationships and sexual assault. It was very emotional and well written. I hope that Jonah is able to live happily after the books ends. That is all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, Stalking, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

alexmorex3's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this book but the ending of it just feels like an entirely different pace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicide

roughdraftofmylife's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

freddybingsu's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction and Fire/Fire injury

123aah456's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

mangofandango's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this one! I signed up for one thing and got sort of another, and I think that was intentional but it was less fun than I imagined it would be. Like, I expected dark, sexy gay thriller, and what it actually is is...dark, grim, sort of mysterious but not quite a thriller, not so much consensually sexy sex but definitely full of many rape scenes, with a main character that seems more like a symbol than an actual character somehow.

I read the discussion guide in the back because I found I finished the book somewhat unclear as to the author's intentions here. Like, it's a story about an ex-evangelical who was forced into conversion therapy, it's got lots of "you deserve this sexual assault, rape and abuse because you're gay" stuff going on because of that, it's trauma after trauma, and the specter of evangelicalism doesn't ever really leave - it gets a kinder re-brand toward the end. So I honestly couldn't tell if this book was operating on stereotypes, playing into some of the poison it represents, or intended to be an exploration of the ways spiritual, sexual, and emotional abuse plays out in these contexts. The author says he was trying to diversify the idea behind #MeToo and bring gay voices and an imperfect victim into it, so it's more the latter, but I didn't find that it was a very strong statement of anything because I couldn't quite tell which side he was on sometimes? Though now that I think about it, it is in some ways a sort of systematic way of telling the story of how someone might fall into an abusive situation, be traumatized, and find potential for healing afterwards. 

Overall, I did like the book well enough and feel invested in the story. But I didn't love it. And if...any triggers around spiritual abuse, sexual abuse, rape, false reporting, relationship abuse, isolation etc etc. are an issue for you, I think you should steer clear of this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

sayitagainjen's review

dark fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence