Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

51 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-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

2.75

I should really stop reading Kate Quinn. I keep trying to like her books, but I'm consistently bored by them. I think it's because this and the other two I read (The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye) are all set around the same time - during, between, or after one of the world wars. I'm guessing this is her niche - world war historical fiction. I don't love the historical fiction around this time in general. I also have found myself failing to invest in any of the characters. I think I like the story arcs, but I don't feel connected to the people in the stories because I feel her storytelling is flat.

Unfortunately, I have one book of hers left to read - The Phoenix Crown, which I won in a Goodreads giveaway. At least this one is cowritten with Janie Chang. Maybe that'll be the one that I like. Nonetheless, I'll wait a while before jumping back into Kate Quinn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

msapocalypse's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

3.5

It's a story worth telling, and the Eve chapters were great, but the Charlie chapters really dragged it all down and were often a slog to get through. I think the story could have been told better without most of that. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jcinf's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

So good. This book was fascinating to me. I’ve heard of women spies during the wars, and I’ve actually read The Lost Girls of Paris (which I also recommend). So I’ve read a similar historical fiction book before.  

I love the intensity of the chapters. I honestly lost a lot of sleep reading this book because I couldn’t put it down. It has been a while since cliffhangers have gotten me so well. 

The characters were fantastic. The “bad guy” was truly an evil person, and I loved that. Sometimes you don’t need to build a villain out to have complexity. Sometimes evil can just be evil. Especially in a time of war. And I think in this situation, it worked great. That said, the villain wasn’t a flat character either. They never felt underdeveloped. I always knew their motivations and I think that worked so flawlessly too because of the nature of being a spy means learning someone’s nuances and what makes them tick. 

So action-packed — which I loved. But also lots of character development and character growth. 

My favorite part (not a spoiler I promise): the representation/depiction of just really cool women. Really badass, intelligent, clever, courageous, interesting women. And knowing it was all based on reality made it even cooler. 

Loved this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug use, Gore, and Rape

fedoratheexplora's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death

charrrchar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Classism

Minor: Antisemitism

emileemaree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

spongefoot's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

At the middle and the very end i would give it a 5 but I think the author could probably knock about 100 pages off and the book would be better. But this is my first successful read from the little library box in my neighborhood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

bertrandlm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Torture, and War