Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

2 reviews

refrejarator's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I really loved this! Bridgerton but make it feminist, slow-burn, and about a wild spinster who doesn't take crap and her sweet twin sister.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jhbandcats's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

I loved this book from beginning to end but I confess that if I hadn’t had to read it for a book group, I’d never have picked it because it looks and sounds like it’s a lightweight “cozy mystery,” the last thing I’d normally choose. This has lots of humor and it’s quite entertaining but it’s about as far from cozy as you can get. Vivid descriptions of truly appalling situations abound. 

This is a feminist tirade against the abuse of women in the 18th and 19th Centuries, and nothing about it is gentle. I am not one to cry at books but I had tears in my eyes reading about the conditions at the private insane asylum - women chained half-naked in feces up to their ankles is just one example of the many cruelties and injustices. 

The author has done copious research on the Regency period of England (1811-1820), and it tells in the detail she brings to the story. This would be a good companion to Jane Austen’s books and the somewhat later ones of the Bronte’s. They focused on polite society whereas this book shows a part of England they may not have known existed. 

Unfortunately for me, this book was only just published so I’ll have to wait all too long for the sequel. I know it will be well worth the wait, but still….

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation