Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

My Mother's House by Francesca Momplaisir

4 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 My Mother’s House is very hard to characterise - part literary thriller, part realistic fiction, part horror and more than a dash of magical realism. It’s the story of a Lucien, who migrated from Haiti with his wife and daughters and establishes a home in Queens which becomes a focal point for other Haitian migrants seeking help. Which sounds fine and good except Lucien is disturbed and abusive and does some truly dark, depraved things. So much so that the house, which is a character in its own right, commits suicide by bursting into flames. The writing is compelling, and the themes are undoubtedly important - generational trauma, migration, gentrification, race, class, the legacy of colonialism, the marginalisation of Black women and more. However, the content is such that this is a very uncomfortable read, unrelentingly grim and disturbing at times, which means it is definitely not a book for every reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

svoeti's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

emptychurches's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cancer

miamon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Excrement, and Trafficking

Minor: Cancer

This book has trigger warnings all over the place, but most things are touched on/mentioned and not described in great detail. I've seen readers who were particularly upset about the animal cruelty in this book... perhaps it's because they didn't have any prior warning (but had read other content warnings)? Personally, I found the sexual violence (although not graphically described) more upsetting.