Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

No Exit by Taylor Adams

85 reviews

paloverdepages's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

This is a book that might get you if you give it a chance. It took me a while to get invested, but even still I don't think I would have cared as much if I wasn't reading this at a friend's recommendation. I don't usually read books like this, but I don't regret this one. 

The prose has moments when it's really good, usually in sensory descriptions.

The entire back half of the book had me squirming. The gore is really well written; descriptive and visceral, and warrants an extra reminder to mind the content warnings.

The internal monologues and descriptions are kind of bland and halting, but that's mostly in the beginning and you can plow through it easily. Also at the beginning, the text is irritatingly repetitive.

We know her name is Darby (and we don't really care about her full name), we know her mom has cancer, we know that she's worried about her sister's vague text.

Specific details are mentioned a lot in really quick succession and it just made me feel like the author was making too many attempts to hook me. I'm already reading the book (unfortunately), you can get to the story now. 

There are a lot of scenes that feel like a point-and-click adventure game. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; I think it's the limited setting and all the props that the narration is juggling. Speaking of juggling, sometimes it's hard to tell who's speaking

(or who's still alive)

.

I'm reading this so I can watch the movie. It was a bit of a chore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Gun violence, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

sydneyrose18's review against another edition

dark medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Confinement

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Vomit

chelsea11's review against another edition

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

shotc's review against another edition

dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

lavendermang0es's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

3.25

I initially rated it 4.25 because I really enjoyed reading the second half onwards. I was rooting for Darby but after finishing it, I realized how much nonsense she was put through and the outcome was practically disrespectful. So I had to lower the rating. The ending was almost comical and felt unnecessary cumbersome. All the twists were great before the standoff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Racial slurs and Death of parent

peyviz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book was insanely tense from beginning to end with so much packed into it. About 25% of the way through I had no idea how I still had so much left to read because so much had already happened. So many heavy gut-punches.

The ending, when you think Darby is dead but then she isn't?? ONE LAST GUT PUNCH, Wow I had to re-read the last page because I was so caught off-guard

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, and Trafficking

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

angstyweeaboo's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, and Dementia

bai96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Vomit, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury

sofia_read's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Cursing, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

coco78337's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I’ve never read a book that was truly unputdownable, but this was exactly that. Such a great read! The characters in this book were so well done and the way he writes is griping. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Cursing, Incest, Vomit, Trafficking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol