Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

31 reviews

taliatalksbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

Ruth Ware’s The It Girl didn’t pack the same punch as some of her other novels, but I loved the way details unfolded to keep you guessing for a large majority of the book. While I feel like the end was more of an “out-of-left-field” twist than a carefully planned “hidden-in-plain-sight” twist, I still really enjoyed it. I think this book as a lot of fluffy information, but it still flows pretty quickly. This is one of few instances where I actually liked the non-linear plot line, since I think it was the perfect framing device for the story. I think this story would have been much more boring if it was told through flashbacks, but making the action present and forefront (and juxtaposing that with the older versions of the characters) was incredibly effective in the pacing and movement of this story. Overall, not my favorite Ware book, but definitely a mystery you don’t want to miss. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Grief, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Infidelity, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Murder, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Death

becandbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

While this wasn't the most mind-boggling Ruth Ware novel, it was glorious to read her contribution to the sphere of dark academia mysteries. The It Girl takes place at Oxford, where a rich girl who bought her way into the college is roommate to the book's main character, Hannah. Hannah is a small-town girl who has worked her way to get into Oxford's English program.

While cliche, it is incredibly entertaining to dive into this popular trope of an English Oxford student dealing with the murder of her IT girl best friend and roommate. There are many players throughout the story - most of them lovable - and while readers may guess the whodunnit before the final page, the uncertainty truly sticks around until the end. This is a pretty classic mystery, with good pacing, great characters and the ever-engaging writing style of Ruth Ware. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Stalking, and Pregnancy

→ trigger warnings: murder, death of a friend, absent parents, recreational drug use, alcohol consumption, possible stalking, harassment, home invasion, cheating, pregnancy, incarceration

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

2.25

 Finished reading: July 2nd 2023

“Don’t let yourself get caught up in what-ifs. That way madness lies.”

WARNING: it's unpopular opinion time again!!

I somehow tend to have a love-hate relationship with Ruth Ware's books. Some of her titles are on my list of favorites, while others fail to hit the mark completely instead... I tend to love her gothic thrillers most, so part of me was a bit hesitant to pick up The It Girl because I wasn't sure how I would react to it. Most people seemed to enjoy the story and I did like the sound of the blurb, so I still had hopes that I would enjoy it... But in the end it just wasn't ment to be. I think part of the issue was that the pace is considerably slow, and it took a LONG time for anything substantial to happen. Add the fact that I didn't like any of the characters, which is always an issue in a character-driven story, and I struggled considerably to find the motivation to keep reading. Sure, we have the mystery around April's death, but I honestly couldn't care less who did it and I personally thought she had it coming. Hannah was very frustrating as a character, both the past and present chapters. The It Girl is mostly a story of toxic friendships, characters not standing up for themselves, infidelity and a not exactly credible hunt for the truth in the present. By the time things got a little more tense near the end, I had already long given up on the story... And I didn't find the reveals exactly worth the wait either. In short, The It Girl was overlong, way too slow and had a disappointing cast of unlikeable and frustrating characters. This is probably one of my least favorite Ruth Ware stories to date... I do hope she will return to the gothic thrillers at some point, because otherwise I might just have to leave her books be in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Classism, Kidnapping, and Violence

allielippe's review

emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

joey1914's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

nukie19's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical content, and Pregnancy

mouwuol's review

dark mysterious reflective tense

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Child death, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Classism, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, and Death

chapterobsessed's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Meh.

It was bingeable but a little too long. It started getting good in the last 100 pages or so. Without giving spoilers, the ending left me feeling duped, like that’s the reason? 🙄

If you’re looking for a book with dual timelines, where everyone looks guilty or you need a fast thriller for fall, this works! 👌🏼

I’m not writing this author off yet, I enjoyed it for what it was. Definitely liked the past parts better than the present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

doreyghc's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit, Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders

kelseyr713's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Ruth Ware has done it again, crafting a compelling mystery with a main character I really felt for. Hannah is extremely likeable and sympathetic, and I understood her need to solve the mystery, even all these years later. I enjoyed the split timeline narrative and had a hard time putting this one down to go to sleep, especially towards the end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, Infidelity, Stalking, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Sexual assault