Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

32 reviews

dblue236's review

dark mysterious 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

3.0

This was a really creative idea and I was excited to dive into it, but by about halfway through it felt like there was way too much focus on teen angst and not enough on the story that COULD have been wildly entertaining and unique. And while I am never one to have a problem with representation in books, the representation here felt more like it was for the sake of it than anything else and it almost felt like an afterthought a lot of the time. With some editing and a bit of a more mature approach, this would have been a much better read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I adored the storyline of this book! Four best friends, Zoey, Celsete, Valeria, and Jasmine, are what are know as Hollow. The Hollowing was a viral ghoul contagion that turned part of the population into flesh eating monsters. As a solution, scientists developed SynFlesh, synthetic human flesh. As the girls head to a Southern California music festival for the weekend, weird things begin to happen, starting with Val attacking and eating one of the performers. I love that this focused on all four girls and their journeys from normal, to hungry flesh eating ghoul, to reformed and relatively normal Hollow person. I think the fun girls trip turned murder mystery zombie adventure is hilarious and hugely engaging. My issues stem from the chronology. This book would flash forward and backward between each girl pretty frequently. The issue is the different times were not explicitly stated so it became a tad confusing. Also Zoey was the main character but shared the stage (she should either been telling this in first person or had a more equally divided story). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jay_da_bookworm's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Alcohol

perth_is's review

dark funny 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

9brightshiners's review

adventurous 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

4.5

Mostly enjoyed this one! The everyday horror of transforming into and living as a 'monster' felt realistic and well thought out. Many elements of the plot and resolution depended upon privileged characters in a way that prevented me from feeling truly immersed or connected with characters at times. There is some aspect of found family in this story, but to me it felt disjointed and ultimately acted as a springboard for romantic relationships. Overall this was a queer teen coming of age story with a solid plot, emotional depth, and a mix of existential horror and gore that kept me engaged and rooting for the main characters. I appreciated the chapters from other characters' POVs and the media quotes and clippings from the fictional pandemic. They added a lot to the world building and helped build empathy and establish motivation for characters that wouldn't be possible if everything was from main character Zoe's perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

The fictional monsters (ghouls) in this book are humans who underwent mutations during a pandemic and were driven to cannibalism. They are able to live human-like lives because of the creation of lab grown human meat. Trauma from the pandemic, discrimination against ghouls, internalized shame, gore, and body horror are prominent throughout the book. Most main characters are queer, one is trans, some are POC and real world discrimination against these identities also exists in this book. Frequent underage alcohol use. Drug use is nonconsensual (drug is fictional). Hate crime is against fictional identity specific to book.

bella613's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Fun, really fast read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

zsnails99's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Deadnaming, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Alcohol

chemeducator's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

Minor: Deadnaming and Pandemic/Epidemic

spaghettii's review

Not my thing

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ee_comins's review

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence, Transphobia, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Deadnaming, Misogyny, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts