Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Four by Four by Sara Mesa

3 reviews

ru_th's review

dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

Language is useless. Words are corrupt and he doesn’t know how to go back to the beginning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

gzaborski's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

While I was prepared to dislike this book after read the extremely dark and brutal first section, the second and third parts of this book proved that the (at times heavy-handed and hard-to-read) topics of exploitation could be used to show the ways power and corruption perpetrate each other in a society that refuses to condemn the actions of the powerful.
While I do think this story could have been told with the events having not been so extremely brutal, and for some, triggering, I understand why the author made the choices to write the book the way she did. The final section concludes the story well, but is a bit repetitive alongside the continued discussion of those same issues in section two. Would recommend, but only after considering trigger warnings and being extremely aware of what one is getting into.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, and Alcohol

haleylooloo's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

What even was this book? The plot barely made sense, not sure if that's because of the translation or just the book itself. It jumped all over the place. It felt very self-important and like it was saying something profound, but really it was just confusing and somewhat condoning of all the pedophilia. Very strange, not my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Drug use