Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

15 reviews

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

3.0

“It’s better, I think, to move on. To look forward.”
“But—”
“We can’t change what’s in the newspaper, so why obsess about it? And we can’t change the past, so why dwell on it?”

- Tipper



Penny is so aaaahhy. I hate her.
Why does the author always needs to do this to me 😭
I know it's done on purpose, but damn how much I hate them all. 
I'm quoting: ‘Don’t kiss your sister’s boyfriend, because if you do, you’re a goddamned asshole.’
And Bess is an asshole too for being on Penny's side and not on Caroline's. 

Once again lovely writing style. Used to have mixed feelings about it in the first book, but now that it's already my second one, so I got used to it. And the whole metaphors with the grief and other emotions is (just like I said in the first book) very cool. 



Am I the only one who noticed that Pfeff was 18 and our protagonist, Carrie was only 17. I'm not sure how to feel about this 😀
Also the dude is such a 'weenie' just like someone else said it in the book.
Their whole relationship is just eh. 
I thought this toxic relationship is a one-time thing, does this author always writes about such stuff?? 🥲

I forgot to check the content warning. First time since a while and guess what? I got triggered. Please everyone don't be like me, read the content warnings for this book. 

Since my rating is based on enjoyment I would give it 2 stars due to it triggering me, but the story was interesting nevertheless and I think it deserves at least 3. 

28. July 2024

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

This was interesting but then got so boring and slow towards the end and generally is was pretty basic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

books_hay's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Wow. Just WOW. I loved it much more than I thought. Maybe more than the 1st one. An eye for an eye. A son for a son. Carrie killed Pfeff, causing his mother and father to lose their first born. And years later, she suffered from the same fate. I didn’t expect the twist but I spoiled it for myself anyway, it was surprisingly not shocking. She did say she was a liar. Bro and penny. Ugh, forcing herself to be straight. Wow. The book was heartbreaking, especially considering the people they become. Which isn’t too great, but it makes sense now why they are the way they are. BRO THE DAD HELPED THEM COVER UP THE MURDER. HE TOOK THE BOARD. Ugh Carrie is also an unreliable narrator just like Candace was. Fuck bro. And don’t get me started on Rosemary. She saw her for 5 summers. Her baby sister that drowned. Ugh. I wish penny could be out. I just want people to be happy in this book, but literally no one is ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

moonbin's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

lokes's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Classism

guivx5's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 When I reviewed
We Were Liars,
I said:
"I still have the sequel to read, and I hope it doesn't suck."
Well,
I'm glad to say it didn't!

Lockhart had a terribly doomed job here: to write a worthy new story based on the universe of a success she wrote almost ten years ago, a book that was so unique in it's style it would be hard to avenge. Thankfully, the task was accomplished, and now we have more lies to be shocked of.

I see Family of Liars as a great expansion of the first book's universe. The Sinclair family has a twisted charm to their tale that guaranteed my interest here, no matter what. You simply want to know more about them, it's undeniable. But then, what could she write? After the shocking story of Cadence and her friends, the broken family full of intrigue and ambition? We Were Liars was an ambitious story itself. I had to find out what's up with their past. Turns out, it wasn't pretty.

Now, let's talk about reading experience here. This book has less strength than it's older brother, simply because it doesn't benefit of the surprise factor. That was taken away by the first story, so it is an inevitable fragility. But I do think Lockhart handled well with this weakness, and soothed it as much as she could, which made the story still full of surprises. The characters, both old and new, were as intriguing as ever, and the plots involving the long-known family of liars were really good. I feel like the second third of the story could do with a bit more of clues and intrigue, but that's just me. Overall, the story is as well built as the first one in terms of consistency. But I do have a big caveat:

Rosemary

 

This could be just me playing with my frustrated expectations, but I do feel like Rosemary deserved a better plot. I mean, it's The Sinclair Family we are talking about, I don't believe she just died on an accident. Her presence could be more meaningful, specially revolving around her motives to visit Carrie. Even if she just died like that, even if this is really her only motive, to look out for her sister, I feel like this wasn't developed enough. It should be brought up more during the chapters. But sorry Lockhart, the only way to redeem yourself here is to write a third book, a prequel where we learn the origins of Harris and Tipper and how they were the real guilty ones behind Rosemary's death. You just have to do it, or I won't raise my rating on this book on my next reread.

Again, I think Lockhart gives us mystery and suspense done right. And this is a great expansion upon the first novel, maybe with a few hiccups towards the middle and in the need of a little more development here and there. It is, ultimately, worth reading if you liked the first book.

Now, how long do you guys think she'll take before deciding to write another prequel? I don't want to reread this too much before she releases it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

dalek_caan's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book almost as much as I loved We Were Liars. I was really impressed by the author's ability to tell a story just as captivating as the previous book, in a prequel no less. I would definitely recommend this book BUT I recommend reading the other book first because this book will spoil We Were Liars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fatphobia

haleybre's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia