Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

7 reviews

batcaves's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

megelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

I WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THIS BOOK.

Jennifer McMahon is quickly becoming a favourite author for me. She crafts such incredible, layered narratives, deftly manages alternating timelines, and depicts family relationships, and particularly relationships between sisters, so, so well, and this book is no exception. It's wonderfully atmospheric, brilliantly plotted, and absolutely, completely, utterly devastating.

This was looking to be a 4.5* for me, as I would've liked to have had more clarity over Declan's role in the story, and also although I was loving it, I wasn't finding myself entirely surprised by anything that was happening. However, I definitely spoke too soon there, as the ending shocked me so, so much that I had to read it multiple times to make sure I'd understood it right, and part of me really, really wishes that I hadn't and that I could've stayed in blissful ignorance. My heart will never ever be the same after that ending, and yet I know I'll do it to myself again as I just cannot stay away from McMahon's incredible stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Infertility, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug use and Injury/Injury detail

amberghinii's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Self harm, Addiction, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

kayelina's review

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Addiction, and Alcohol

jmbz38's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide

jessthemess222's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

Like many spooky books, this one didn’t gel for me. The characters were generally  unlikable, and the crucial “denial that there’s something supernatural happening” piece was not handled well. (There’s a fine line between making believable tension here and making the characters seem too gullible or too stubborn. I managed to think the characters in this were both.) Things are creepy but there’s never any actual sense of menace or danger. The end is abrupt and doesn’t really resolve the haunting, which isn’t fully explained at any point. Overall meh. I will read another by her but if it’s not better I wouldn’t read a third. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, and Alcohol

cblunier's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

It's told by characters and I really found the one in the past to be irritating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Toxic relationship