Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

14 reviews

larareads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad 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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peytonktracy's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious medium-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

3.75

So this installment of The Diviners series was a bit of a slog to get through but only because the already large cast started getting a lot more individual attention in their growth arcs and personal narratives in addition to really hitting the pavement towards the climax of the overarching plot against the Biggest Baddest Villain behind all the smaller, Still Bad But Not That Bad Villains. It's a lot to pay attention to - I think we had something like 14 characters who we got perspectives from at multiple points throughout the narrative, not including the four-ish camps of villains. It was a lot to keep track of, but it does lend itself to a very interesting vision of the main plot and the interactions between the characters because you get such comprehensive perspectives of everything and everyone. And I will also say, the characters are beautifully diverse in every way - a variety of races, sexualities, religious backgrounds, disabilities, socio-economic statuses, citizenship status, belief systems, attitudes towards institutions in this country, even ages. And that has always been appreciated in this series.

But the bulk of the marks against this book was how much I wished for some content warnings. This book took a turn for the serious (not that it hasn't always been serious) but several caught me completely off guard in vulnerable moments because they came with so little warning and one in particular put me off continuing this book for a month or so. And at the end
Bray decided to go all George R. R. Martin/J. K. Rowling in Deathly Hallows on us and just murder like four people in the span of a few chapters that was a little surprising and unexpected.
Not that I think that writing choice was a problem or problematic but it was tonally inconsistent with where the book had been and so was just pretty surprising. 

All this to say though, I've already checked out and started the final installment and had no qualms about doing so. I'm ready to GO.
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claudiaswords's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Diviners is one of my all time favourite book series and for some reason it took me until book three to come to that conclusion. Not only is Libba Bray's writing incredibly beautiful and atmospheric, but her characters are some of the best characters I've ever read. They are round and flawed and you can't help but fall in love with them. 
Probably my favourite part of this book was the "found family" trope finally coming together, since in the two previous books the group hadn't fully formed yet. I loved the relationships that formed and how they came to be, nothing felt forced on the characters. Most of all I loved the character development. I didn't love Evie at first, she seemed to me a bit too much at times and in the previous books I wasn't so interested in her story as much as that of other characters but in this book I came to absolutely love her. I think she might be one of my favourite characters in this series right now. Sam, Memphis and Theta are close seconds (I would give my life for all of them). I loved how their stories where developed in this book as well. I do wish we had gotten more Ling and Henry development but they were the focus of the last book (Lair of Dreams) so I understand why they were a bit more in the background this time around. 
The ones I haven't mentioned yet are because they are a bit more delicate to handle in my opinion. Mabel and Jericho. Mabel had me on my toes during this whole book. She was a character I really liked in the first book, I related a lot to her, and I still did in this one, but I saw her going in a direction I didn't like. However, by the time the ending came around I completely understood everything she had done in this book was for a reason, that it was necessary for her growth and I appreciate it. Jericho I don't really know what to think of, he changed a lot in this book and I think I have to wait until I read the next one to say what I think about those changes.
All in all this was a wondeful read, I haven't given it 5 stars because the beginning felt a bit slow for me, but once the pace picked up it did so wonderfully and didn't drop for a second. I must admit some parts of this book had me tearing up and wanting (needing) to hug the characters.
All in all this was a very very good read and has finally confirmed Libba Bray as one of my favourite authors.
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flyinmoonlight's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • 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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