Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality by Kate Khavari

7 reviews

khayes2's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Very cute! A different take on a similar theme as the first book with lots of intriguing mysteries! And a bit of romance!

I had expected it to be a standalone though, and it definitely leads straight into the next in the series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and War

bearybooky's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this second book. Looking forward to the third! Good, clean story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Blood

Minor: Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

tess_gee's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Solid read, I didn't read the first book and I was still able to keep up. If you like a mystery with a dash of romantic tension. I coulda done with more botany though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

jessgj's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending me a copy of the audiobook. All opinions and thoughts are my own 
 

So for context, I haven't read the first book. Still, with this being only the second book and the description, I decided to pick it up and go from there. Also, this cover is gorgeous

First off, I want to say that I love the characters. With the initial pairing of the serious Saffron Everly and the flirty Dr. Michael Lee, I immediately thought of similar duos in media and how the woman is portrayed as overserious with no sense of humor while the man's childish nature is excused. Fortunately, that's not the case here. 

While Everleigh is more serious, she is playful and passionate. Everleigh's attitude is very understandable as it's the 1920s and misogyny is very much present at the college's higher-ups. (The fact that her last superior is now in jail isn't really the icebreaker one might hope it is).

Lee, on the other hand, is flirty and has a large heart. You can really feel how much he cares for Everleigh and that he's not as emptyheaded as he appears. I also appreciate how the two come from privileged backgrounds and while Everleigh might have left that world, she still very much benefits from it.

The mystery itself is solid. The ending balanced nicely with shocking but transparent when you think over the evidence again. Even a detail that I thought was kind of dithering and unneeded came back to mind during the big reveal. There's one or two strings still dangling after everything was done but I wouldn't be surprised if a major player from this returns later. I kinda hope so. 

I think my only complaint is regarding the love triangle. I'm not a fan of them and I wasn't really expecting it. That said, Khavari handled it rather well! Very rarely did I feel that it was in the way of the mystery or even annoyed at Everleigh herself. Over the book, she's shown herself to be someone smart and with a good heart but still a little naive. (Not surprising since her grandfather is a viscount and it's a new world after the war.) Still, she's a confident protagonist and is honest with everyone, even asking for space when she's overwhelmed. Even the obligatory "Two men scowl at each other" scene had me cheering as I listened.  

The love triangle isn't resolved but I love how each character has much growing to do and they're all aware of it.  Still not a fan of love triangles but this one was well done. I'm excited to see where they go from here.

 Also, Elizabeth, her roommate, is chaotic and a true homie. I love her.

Overall, I give this 4.5 stars. If you're looking for a mystery with a confident but still learning heroine at the helm and romance elements, this is a good place to start.

TW: Murder, discussion of strangling, blood, drug use, gun violence, PTSD (Character is a WWI vet) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Misogyny and Vomit

prairieraven's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Good book for history and mystery fans. Entertaining, light and fun. Not the most shocking who-done-it but a nice easy brain break. Strong female lead characters and supporting characters, passes the #BeschdelTest for sure! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

daniellestarredpages's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

When I requested this ARC, I wasn't aware that this was a sequel. I read it anyway as the book was readable without reading the first book. I found the MCs to be enjoyable to read about, though the side characters could've been fleshed out a bit more. I originally thought Saffron and Lee would play a bigger part in the overall investigation, I enjoyed the things they did do anyway. I hoped there would be a bit more romantic development between Saffron and Lee, as there was a good amount of tension but it ultimately went nowhere (technically). However, the overall reading experience was great

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child death and Sexual harassment

acwhite's review against another edition

mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.5

I adored Parties & Poisons so I was very excited when I got the DRC of the sequel from Edelweiss.

A worthy successor to the fun of the first book, though I wasn’t quite as drawn in at the beginning. After the halfway point though I could hardly put it down.

The introduction of Dr. Lee is an interesting development, and the twists and turns of the mystery kept me guessing and engaged.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the ending left me very excited for the next installment. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Vomit, Abortion, and Death of parent