Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

18 reviews

karinreadsalot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Abortion

caitlinw44's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Abortion

ashley_elizabeth's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I don't tend to read your run-of-the-mill contemporary thrillers much, and this book reminded me why. Shitty people doing shitty things, making terrible choices that you feel pretty confident any sane-minded person wouldn't make, and then add a super weird kind of happy ending.... Yeah, no.

I give two stars for the suspense, which was well-built, and for a readable thriller that I'm sure would be great for someone who likes this genre. I don't, however, think it didn't anything particularly new or interesting, and I hate hate hate using

rape, adoption, and/or incestuous activity

as plot devices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, and Vomit

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

katies_bibliotherapy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I picked this book up and soft DNFed it a while ago when I wasn't in the right mood. This book alternates between Geo's POV, the FMC, and Kaiser's POV, the detective with the Seattle PD and a friend and former classmate of Geo's. This story wasn't what I was expecting, in a good way.

Part One of the book is Geo in prison for the murder of her high school best friend, Angela. I liked that because it felt like I was watching a season of Orange Is The New Black. Part Two also intrigued me because it focuses on the serial killer, and I like serial killer thrillers. However, Part Two takes place five years after Geo is sent to prison, but that isn't indicated at the beginning of part two. You have to start reading the first chapter in part two to find that out, which threw me off a bit. I would have preferred the time jump to be plainly stated. This is also a slow-burn even though the book is very short. I found that this threw the pacing off and meant that things were dragged out much more than they needed to be. The writing wasn't my favourite and my copy could have used at least another round of edits because there were SO many spelling errors. This is written in third person POV and I much prefer books written in first person. The big reveal and plot twist was saved for the very end of the book, but by that point the reveal wasn't shocking enough to pull me back into the story. 

I loved LITTLE SECRETS by the author and look forward to reading her other books. This one just didn't quite work for me. Be mindful of trigger warnings, as there are a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Death of parent

tinkithesquirelll's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Felt like reading a wattpad book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bookdeviant86's review against another edition

dark sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

marleens's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

This one was very dark and gruesome and I liked almost everything about it. The only thing that didn’t really work for me was Kaiser’s POV, and I think I would have liked this book better with only Geo’s POV. Honestly, he didn’t add that much, the story wouldn’t have had to suffer much for it. But overall some excellent dark fiction!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Gore, and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Death of parent

juliaclark's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

starklinqs's review against another edition

3.0

It’s not a bad book at all, but I was very unprepared for how rough this book was going to be. It felt a bit like tragedy/trauma porn for me and there were a lot of sexual assault/rape scenes that were a lot to get through. I also didn’t love the final act; it felt kind of far fetched and just wasn’t for me. 

Again, not a bad or poorly written book which is why I’ve given it a 3 but honestly personal enjoyment wise it was a 2 for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia

jolikestoread's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol