Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

13 reviews

cmklaft's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.75

Spoiler

Main character and obsessive relationship with child unnecessary to plot and honestly obnoxious. I don't need to read that you breastfeeding every other page, got it your child it hungry thanks for all the unnecessary details with 0 value added. Plot was predictable, no wow factor, slow slow start that just seemed to drag everything out.  So many holes in the story.  Major details compared to previous novels

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Addiction, Animal death, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death

xkwright's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Cancer, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Deportation

singalana's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Tässä kirjassa on paljon hyviä aineksia: sisäoppilaitos ja meren rannalla sijaitseva vanha talo, joka on hiljalleen uppoamassa mereen. Tarina kertoo neljästä naisesta, joilla on yhteinen salaisuus. 

Päähenkilö Isa on tuore äiti, joka saa tekstiviestin ystävältään Katelta, ja pian neljä ystävystä ovat jälleen koossa, koska heidän salaisuutensa on tulossa päivänvaloon. Valitettavasti Isan persoonallisuus pyörii täysin äitiyden ympärillä, eikä hahmossa ole tarttumapintaa. Isan hössötys vauvan ympärillä vie huomiota pois muulta tarinalta, eikä vauvan mukanaolo tuo tarinalle mitään lisäarvoa. Jos imettämisestä lukeminen ei kiinnosta, päähenkilön seuraaminen voi olla hieman raskasta. Lisäksi Isan ja hänen miehensä välillä on turhaa jännitettä, koska pariskunta ei kommunikoi keskenään. 

Tarinassa on kaksi aikajanaa, ja pikkuhiljaa alkaa paljastua mitä tapahtui tyttöjen ollessa sisäoppilaitoksessa. Kirjan ensimmäiset 300 sivua ovat hieman tylsät, ja viimeiset 20 sivua on tungettu täyteen toimintaa. Lisäksi kun mysteeri paljastuu, naisten reaktiot sen paljastumiseen tuntuu ylimitoitetulta. Valitettavasti juonessa käytetään paljon väärinkäsityksiä, ja lopussa on vielä dramaattinen "tuplatwisti", jotka tämän kirjan kohdalla tuntuvat vähän laiskoilta ratkaisuilta. Lisäksi kirjan nimikin viittaa valhepeliin, mutta pelillä ei loppujen lopuksi ole mitään merkitystä juonen kannalta.

Tämä ei ole huonoin Ruth Waren kirja jonka olen lukenut, mutta ei kyllä paraskaan. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, and Sexual content

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Incest

katymat18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Animal death, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Medical content, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer, Islamophobia, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Bullying

ellynicholem's review

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Cursing, and Drug use

nicday19's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

waytoomanybooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I rarely read mysteries, but I am so glad I picked up this one! The emotions Isa and her three friends go through are palpable. And I greatly appreciate the fact that the women had goals, ambitions, fears, hopes, etc. that went beyond being wives and mothers, even though most of them are wives and mothers. They felt fully fleshed out, complex, and interesting. It's a great boarding school, dark academia story told from the perspective of an adult looking back on her harrowing teenage years. 

I took off one star because the ending is a bit confusing and a little ambiguous considering the amount of detail that went in the rest of the novel.

Be mindful of the trigger warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

angrybookworm's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed this book but honestly all the characters were a bit flat for me. I couldn’t stand Isa and Freya just felt like a metaphor the entire time. I did finish this book in about 2 days though because it was easy, got to the point, and was interesting at every turn. A lot of it was predictable but the few twists in the ending were pretty good. I’d recommend it for people who like mysteries. Plus it passed the bechdel test. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Incest