Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

21 reviews

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a very raw, very honest book that absolutley did not shy away from tough topics. I loved the characters. The first 3/4 were amazing, but unfortunately the last quarter of the book went in a direction that was much less of my thing and I enjoyed it a lot less. Overall though, very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Excrement

loristoudenmier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

strange_little_ranger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

dustghosts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Sorrowland had a little bit of everything that I wanted from the other horror books I read this past October. Visceral and mysterious body horror intertwined with a really compelling and (unfortunately) timeless, unflinching look at the mycelium of systemic racism (colonialism, human experimentation, systemic poverty and the lengths it might drive someone to, religious bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia and interphobia— etcetera). I think this should be a must-read for people who lean too heavily on “blaming the system” while turning away from personal responsibility for the way that participation in those systems hurts people specifically. Vern is a complicated protagonist with mostly uncomplicated motives— and she compelled me more than anything else about this book. The supernatural “twist” to the story doesn’t soften the issues at hand, but underlines it. At times, it this read a bit too blunt/heavy-handed for me— but by and large this felt like a purposeful narrative choice, so it’s splitting hairs. The horror and the sorrow and the misery of it all is balanced, all the way through, by a thread of tender togetherness that I think will stay with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

4.75

GOD i did NOT heed the trigger warnings and I honestly don't even have an excuse like I knew this was a horror novel and still picked it up. don't make my mistake and please be safe. Anyway this BOOK!!!! /pos
absolute fucking masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

graphic: cult

matcha_cat's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Suicide, and Blood

strawberry_mo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

This was a deeply moving modern mythology. I was not expecting to be speechless upon finishing it but I really was. The writing was beautiful while still being accessible and well-paced. This novel tackled some of the heaviest topics of American history with an unflinching lens. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, and Colonisation

tina94's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse

mischka's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism

odrib's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Car accident