Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

33 reviews

aus10england's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.25

Leaving this reread with so many queer headcannons

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

cscharfway's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

I remember my teacher reading this book out loud to the class in Grade 7 so thought I would read it again for nostalgia. Still a pretty great read for a book from the 1960s, though I can see how other books might be more relevant for young people today. It’s a very tragic read but really interesting look at poverty and classes, and how that impacts teenagers within a small town. There are a couple icky sections when it comes to how men treat women and very cringy discussions of child abuse that is quite hard to read. There’s also no racial diversity. I think other more contemporary books do a better job introducing these important topics to young people than this one- it had its time in the sun, it’s time to introduce some new material into the curriculum. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual harassment

karsynisawesome's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

jhb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katie0528's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.5

This was a classic I missed growing up, but being a big musical fan, I wanted to read the orginal before exploring the new Outsiders musical. The story follows Ponyboy as he and his brothers and friends, who are all "Greasers" struggle to get by while being harassed and attacked by the wealthier "Socs." After meeting a soc girl names Cherry, and realizing she has a lot in common with him, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny are attacked by Cherry's boyfriend Bob and his friends. After Johnny stabs and kills Bob in self defense, the greasers find themselves involved in gang warefare, while Johnny and Ponyboy have to figure out their next moves. It's not an easy read, but I can see why it's a classic. Ponyboy is a bit angsty for my adult brain, but I could see teenage me sympathizing deeply with him and his gang.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

major character death

gangs, gang violence

diana_0417's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

 This book makes you think back on friend and family relationships. Although the family in this novel is not a typical type of family I could come around, descriptions and events made me feel related. I was able to feel connected to the characters that I felt grief running down at the end of the book (It got me sobbing which I don't do very often) For me, the book felt strange at some of the points, because the occasions taking place aren't common around my area of life. However, happenings related to themes like loyalty, friendship, and family are heartbreaking. It was a few chapters that made me continue reading. For example, how the characters sacrifice each other for loyalty makes you feel amazed and heartwarming. As a person who enjoys reading literary devices and symbols, this novel deliberately delivers significant messages through meaningful and emotional events that allow you to think throughout the chapters. Each character in the novel is unique and has an individuality that piques my interest to want to know more, compared to other books that I've read. Events that held me were rescuing the kids from the fire, and Ponyboy says, "I didn't have fear" just whirled me with such diverse emotions and thought back to my life "Have I ever had this kind of experience?". Themes such as social division are not topics that are mentioned and told in real life, but going through this book gives you a chance to think about a situation of struggle and class differences. Relationships formed within characters are closely tied together. In my experience, I have never had this kind of vulnerable relationship in life, so reading this story taught me emotions that could occur in the name of loyalty. The mood of this book is friendly but dark so it allows you to think seriously on theme matter. Also, the author's choice of putting the poem interested me in reading his other works. The ending is a little bit forgetful because it was kind of an expected ending. However, I liked that it tied the beginning and the ending together, usually when you reach the end of the book you forget how it started, but it ended in an opposite way so it got me thinking back on changes of my thoughts and perspectives as the story progressed. Again, the thing that I like about “The Outsider” is exploring a topic that is sort of controversial and not held so lightly, I have not got to read those kinds of books that often, and even though I do, I was hesitant to make give my thoughts but this book is set in a friendly easy-going way that I felt comfortable and got to think more about the themes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Grief

Moderate: Child death and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol

inirac's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing and Vomit

cadybooks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

theenbybookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

WARNING : PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN READING THIS BOOK!!! AT THE VERY LEAST, PLEASE READ THE CONTENT WARNINGS BELOW!!! MAY CONTAIN SENSITIVE TOPICS TO CERTAIN READERS!!!
I generally enjoyed the book. Perhaps it was how I read it - it was required for my 8th grade English class -, but I feel like I might have enjoyed it more had I had better circumstances to read it under. Nonetheless, it is a very heartfelt and deep story. My favorite character was definitely Johnny - I love a good character-development. Overall, would recommend to someone who likes morals and angstier(?) stories about living in a difficult situation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Abandonment

So many things that people need to be cautious about with this book.

The death of 3+ people are described in quite a bit of detail. This would be Johnny (who died from injuries of the fire), Dally (who generally went crazy after Johnny died and proceeded to make him an obvious target for police - essentially committing suicide), and Bob (who we had the description of his dead body and the aftermath quite clearly, as it is a main focus).

Evident Drug Use and Alcohol Use from multiple characters. Lots of Street and Gun Violence. Please be careful and aware before you read this.