Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

122 reviews

3arth2kaye's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

zoe_werdy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I was recommended this by my flatmate and read most of it in a plaza in seville. It was a lot darker than I expected, I felt slightly missold as the back cover makes it sound funny. There were funny moments for sure, the main character is awkward and gets herself into some absurd situations, but it was also a really vivid portrayal of mental illness which I wasn't expecting. I should have read the trigger warnings before I started. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Lesbophobia

ecw47's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Vomit

Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, and Self harm

mjwhitlock18's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

I don’t even know what to say about this book. This book is chaotic and realistic, funny and depressingly bleak. It is written as stream of consciousness, following an anxious, catastrophising, directionless, atheist lesbian with intrusive thoughts and existential dread, who searches for therapy and instead accidentally ends up with a job in a Catholic church. Gilda is a multifaceted, complex character, but so many of the other characters are flat and one-dimensional. But I guess given that the story is from her POV and she spends most of the book wrapped up with her thoughts, maybe she simply lacks the awareness to see them as complex. Austin’s portrayal of Gilda’s inner thoughts are very real and relatable for someone with depression/anxiety, but also may be triggering to read for some, just FYI. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Transphobia, and Vomit

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

whitne_ey's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, and Gaslighting

bittennailbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 “Everything matters so much and so little; it is disgusting.” 

How long would you let a lie spiral out of control? This is the question that our protagonist Gilda struggles with as she spirals through the crumbling folds of her mind. A lesbian working in a conservative Catholic church, deals with the intricacies of her panic and depressive disorders. The story follows Gilda begging to the brick walls of the health care system for help, trying to solve the death of the woman who held her job previous, which in turn, causes her life to spin out of control. One may argue that she is in fact losing touch with reality but I would say she is in fact too aware of it. 

This book was strangely gripping, Austin is skilled in her ability to provoke a physical reaction from her readers with the jumpy timelines, uncertain character-driven plotline, and uneasy spiral she takes us down along with Gilda.  I found myself many times being frustrated with Gilda's ability to not react and simultaneously overreact when presented with the consequences of her inability to get her feet on solid ground. It's been many years since my last panic attack but the feelings Austin evokes through her writing feels all to familiar. Please check the content warnings if you are someone who is struggling with religious trauma, panic disorders, or medical trauma.

Was it a nail biter? Yes of course it was. I devoured this book in a sitting as I was not ready to let go of this story that de-threaded so many times along the way. I would recommend this to someone who is looking for a unique read and wants to be taken for an all out ride.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexism

sderrig's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Car accident

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Cursing, Blood, and Cannibalism

readingbylinds's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

3.75

It gets better as it goes along. It’s an enjoyable read with interesting characters, plot, and dry humor. Gilda the protagonist is well fleshed out and even when she is making horrible decisions you feel sympathy for her. However, I can’t rate it higher because it was just a bit too heavy. It is hard to read a book that is so caught up in someone’s horrible mental state. I also think it could’ve benefited from gutter resolution at the end of the novel as it felt rushed compared to the rest of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Lesbophobia

Minor: Medical content

daramillz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

The blurbs on the cover of this book use the words “humor,” “hilariously poignant,” and “funny.” I do not agree, except with the word poignant. I’m a big fan of dark humor, but I don’t think this truly falls into that category. Mostly, I just found it enormously sad. Heartbreaking. In a beautiful way, yes. And some of the side characters are quirky in a way that sidles up to funny, but for me this wasn’t a smile/sad book, except for the final page. I think my forehead stayed furrowed in concern for Gilda throughout the entire duration of reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Car accident