Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Sabah Yıldızı by Pierce Brown, Selim Yeniçeri

10 reviews

lokes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

0.25

I already did not really like the first two books, because of the multiple problems with them - going from racism to queerphobia, the downplay of physical, mental and most importantly sexual abuse, the whole „man is greater than woman“ stuff which wasn’t exactly hidden and most importantly the blatant fascism, especially when it comes to government systems.
In this book, he definitely lost me after an actual discussion described in the book about how the biggest threat to the group is democracy? Hell no. 

I’m really glad I did not buy physical copies of the trilogy, because that would’ve been a waste of both time and money. 


Also, I can’t believe this book got even close to being nominated for an award award, much less to actually win one?? Rest just feels so goddamn wrong :/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

coincidental's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ashlynregan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This series is super consistent and its honestly so refreshing!! Although wtf was that ending??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Pierce Brown is 3 for 3. The only trilogy I've read where every book is deserving of five stars. I feel like an idiot repeating the exact same shit in every review but what can I say; Brown has mastered simultaneous consistency and variety. That ENDING. I've never gone through so many emotions in so few chapters. I couldn't sleep because I was so hyped up by the momentum of the story, so I forced myself to stop reading after

Sevro "died" which had the opposite effect of what I intended.

I literally was one sentence away from physically biting my knuckles out of sheer anticipation and some legitimate fear. Another broken record saying of mine but I LOVE SEVRO!

The impact his death had on my well-being was nearly irreversible. Thank god that twist happened when it did because permanent damage could've been done to my psyche if Sevro was no longer in this series.

  I lowkey may not have been able to read the next trilogy. Even now that ending felt like running a marathon at a full-out sprint. Each twist sent my heart RACING.

Cassius betrays Darrow's trust.

  Sweat forming.

Sevro DIES.

Heart palpitations.

They cut off Darrow's arm!

No more oxygen in my lungs.

Cassius was acting (a masterclass at that because there was no one I hated more in my life than Cassius—a character I've loved for a long time—at that moment)!

Hand tremors.

The deaths of the Olympic Knights!

I can breathe for a second!

The Jackal nukes the moon.

Fuck, pulling out my hair.

The Sovereign dies.

Full body chills.

All colour uprising.

Jubilation!

The Jackal dies.

Unparalleled happiness.

Darrow and Virginia have a CHILD?!

No words. I need a break before I traumatize myself further. 

I can't believe I waited a full month to finish this. I'm so regretful right now. Everything could've been fresh in my mind but in all the excitement I fear I've forgotten everything about the first half of this book. The whole trilogy blends together in this tornado of excitement in my mind. I really can't distinguish book from book or the chronology of anything. My friend asked me to explain the plot, because I couldn't keep my freakout at the ending to myself, and I did such a shit job. Maybe I really do need a break from this series. 

Potentially unpopular opinion but I am sick of them naming every damn thing after Pax. But at least I can be happy that Cassius is fully back. My heart could not take him and Darrow being anything but brothers for much longer. I also have already been spoiled by TikTok (a common occurrence, so when they spared Lysander I was screaming "NOOOO" in my head. BUt then again if Darrow killed him he wouldn't be Darrow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Hate crime, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was immediately well-paced. From the firat page I was pretty much sucked back into this universe. It was very heavy on the politics at times but it worked. Compared the Red Rising and Golden Son, there wasn't a page that wasn't relevant to the story. For sure a couple of paragraphs could have been edited out here and there, but generally speaking, the whole story flowed well chapter to chapter. This book hurt me with some of the character deaths, redemptions, and betrayals, but that makes for a great story.

Where this book loses marks is the battle scenes. Sometimes they are just too...wordy, or like they're trying to achieve too much. I cannot conceptualise half of the scenes in my head, which maybe is a me-problem, but sometimes I just can't picture it and it brings me out of the story a bit. (There was also that "Bye Felicia" moment and I actually took damage from cringing.)

HIS NAME IS PAX 🥹😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Cannibalism

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Medical content, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

rubyroses's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was an amazing end to Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown !!

Throughout the trilogy we follow Darrow on his journey from red to gold to something more. But, in Morning Star we see shift from Darrow as the sole focus. Instead, we find that those around him are also just as important in fixing society. We truly see Darrow grow from a child into a man and this is reflected in his actions. 

Be prepared… in this book some of the most loved and most hated character die & others live… or maybe they do both (it’s hard to explain you’ll just have to read it to find out). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This is my favorite installment in the Red Rising series so far. A lot of my previous complaints are less glaring here—the female characters are treated less like sexual objects (though, ultimately, almost every one invariably finds themselves smitten with a man and swayed by whatever he wants), the core of the book felt a lot stronger, and the stylized narration didn’t grate on me this time around. Pierce Brown’s strength certainly lies in his ability to create a sweeping, epic battlefield, with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. I felt myself caring for the characters and their fates more than I had before, though I will admit some of the “twists” were unfortunately over-telegraphed. If you liked the last two installments, I see no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Genocide, Slavery, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Torture, Vomit, Trafficking, and Cannibalism