Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

18 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Abandonment, Ableism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

Minor: Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, and Transphobia

camieh's review

dark slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment

squinnittowinit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Personally I'm not a fan of psychological thrillers, as I find the theme of obsession to be boring. As much as I still did not enjoy what this book was about or any of the characters, I have to admit that it is very well-written. The pacing feels both laid-back and dream-like, yet suspenseful at the same time, as

Spoiler

the narrator slowly reveals herself to be more and more unreliable as she deals with both past trauma and current manipulation.

This is one of those books where all the pieces come together in the end to finally reveal the entire picture, creating a satisfying wrap-up, if nothing else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Addiction

Minor: Blood and Gun violence

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Fine. It's a fairly engaging and enjoyable experience to listen to this. I didn't find it to spectacular, just a pretty solid YA novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Addiction, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content

mfrisk's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It’s hard to fully wrap my head around my thoughts on this book. I enjoyed the characters and world building of the school throughout and thought that was well done. However towards the end I felt the book lost steam. I had hoped for a darker ending or for the book to have another twist I didn’t expect but I guessed part of the twist earlier on so it didn’t feel like there was enough after that point that amped up the intensity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Mental illness and Drug use

crackedspines_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Violence, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Vomit, Addiction, Animal death, and Medical content

Minor: Racism and Drug use

ableism: against someone with psychotic depression medical content: mentions of hospitalization, medication

ka_ke's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Lesbians. Witchcraft. Murder. Dark Academia. What more could you possibly want? A Lesson in Vengeance is a good book. It’s filled with a diverse cast of lovable girls, discusses the difficulties behind families, queer identities, and mental health, all while holding a sense of mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Cursing, Murder, Vomit, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Abandonment, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts

werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Classism, Gore, Violence, Bullying, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

katsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

“Ex Scientia Ultio. From knowledge comes vengeance.” 

“The question isn't whether magic is real. It's whether I can touch it without being consumed by it.”

This book was alright. The dark academia vibes were spooky and fun. The fact that there was absolutely zero characters that were men was delightful. I didn't fully realize until the very end but every character either identifies as a woman or nonbinary. Loved that representation! I also really liked when the writing got a little meta. However, I found it slightly annoying when the author said something to the extent of "she touched me and I felt a tingle go down my spine" for the 50th time. Like find a new description, please. But ultimately, the atmosphere was this book's saving grace, for sure. The writing and plot weren't terrible. I found different parts intriguing but the first two-thirds or so were kind of slow. It really picked up in the last third but by then I had predicted a major plot twist so when it happened, it didn't impact me the way I expect it was meant to. If  YA thrillers and dark academia are your jam, you'd probably enjoy this more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Blood, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gaslighting, Violence, Bullying, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Sexual content, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Cursing

cianarae's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Very slow beginning, it takes awhile for something interesting to happen. The writing itself was just alright. I liked the mystery/guessing and the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Drug use, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Addiction

Minor: Racism, Transphobia, Suicide, Alcoholism, Classism, Vomit, Cursing, and Confinement