Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

18 reviews

erinnnn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

A pulpy, seaside I Know What You Did Last Summer that may be a bit too long to be a satisfying beach read. While I would normally dislike spending so much time on details and relationships unrelated to the plot, I didn’t mind it much here because I thoroughly enjoyed Isa and colorful friend group. They are by far my favorite characters in any of Ware's books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Suicide, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, and Dysphoria

ksilvio's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

talii's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse and Drug use

Minor: Incest and Self harm

adelinebal4's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicide, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Incest, Self harm, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

alanabie's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This has been my favorite, I think of the "trashy thrillers" I've read this year (free little libraries ftw) but it fell short in a lot of ways. She's a better writer than others I've read, but the pacing and the stakes were low. I didn't love the big reveal, about halfway in the book, about "what they did"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was an interesting story, but I felt like the ending was a little unsatisfying. The very, very ending I appreciated, but it's just a bummer to get sucked into a story expecting a good payoff, and then not getting it. Also! I am really wondering if there was a Muslim sensitivity reader for the part of Fatima. Parts just didn't seem nuanced. Also, Fatima and her family were named the first names that come up when you search "common Muslim names" on Google, which I did to verify. There may be a reading of this that says that since Kate is the main POV that we're getting, the book is written as a white person's view of Islamic practices, since it's Kate's view. But that also feels like a blah reason. Like this whole "you cover your hair now and that makes you a whole different person" thing is like... but what if we didn't?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Medical content

The MC talks quite a lot about her young baby, and that might be not excellent for anyone going through a time where they don't want to read lots of worshipful language about babies.

cmklaft's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.75

Main character and obsessive relationship with child unnecessary to plot and honestly obnoxious. I don't need to read that you breastfeeding every other page, got it your child it hungry thanks for all the unnecessary details with 0 value added. Plot was predictable, no wow factor, slow slow start that just seemed to drag everything out.  So many holes in the story.  Major details compared to previous novels

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Self harm, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death

xkwright's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Deportation

singalana's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Tässä kirjassa on paljon hyviä aineksia: sisäoppilaitos ja meren rannalla sijaitseva vanha talo, joka on hiljalleen uppoamassa mereen. Tarina kertoo neljästä naisesta, joilla on yhteinen salaisuus. 

Päähenkilö Isa on tuore äiti, joka saa tekstiviestin ystävältään Katelta, ja pian neljä ystävystä ovat jälleen koossa, koska heidän salaisuutensa on tulossa päivänvaloon. Valitettavasti Isan persoonallisuus pyörii täysin äitiyden ympärillä, eikä hahmossa ole tarttumapintaa. Isan hössötys vauvan ympärillä vie huomiota pois muulta tarinalta, eikä vauvan mukanaolo tuo tarinalle mitään lisäarvoa. Jos imettämisestä lukeminen ei kiinnosta, päähenkilön seuraaminen voi olla hieman raskasta. Lisäksi Isan ja hänen miehensä välillä on turhaa jännitettä, koska pariskunta ei kommunikoi keskenään. 

Tarinassa on kaksi aikajanaa, ja pikkuhiljaa alkaa paljastua mitä tapahtui tyttöjen ollessa sisäoppilaitoksessa. Kirjan ensimmäiset 300 sivua ovat hieman tylsät, ja viimeiset 20 sivua on tungettu täyteen toimintaa. Lisäksi kun mysteeri paljastuu, naisten reaktiot sen paljastumiseen tuntuu ylimitoitetulta. Valitettavasti juonessa käytetään paljon väärinkäsityksiä, ja lopussa on vielä dramaattinen "tuplatwisti", jotka tämän kirjan kohdalla tuntuvat vähän laiskoilta ratkaisuilta. Lisäksi kirjan nimikin viittaa valhepeliin, mutta pelillä ei loppujen lopuksi ole mitään merkitystä juonen kannalta.

Tämä ei ole huonoin Ruth Waren kirja jonka olen lukenut, mutta ei kyllä paraskaan. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Incest, and Self harm