Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

18 reviews

jourdanicus's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

Two brothers and their friends on a journey to confront childhood trauma together.

I love when horror has fantastical elements that mirror real horrors. It's such an interesting way to process the actual terrible things that happen in real life. After all, to paraphrase Holly Gibney, we shouldn't question supernatural monsters when we can hardly explain what drives the behavior of real-life monsters.

Speaking of King, this book was compared to It in Libby where I first saw it. That both drew me in and made me feel skeptical. Now that I've finished it I can say, yep, this was a King-alike, and only in good ways! Mostly I would say that it had the same "vibe," but there were definitely some intentional allusions - "a gumball as red as a clown's nose." Clever. And excuse me for blaspheming but I do think some aspects of Malfi's work here are an improvement on King, namely the less effortful diversity of the characters, and the depth of the setting (which was, in a sense, its own character).

And finally... Dennis 🥺🥺🥺 (that's all I will say.)

I can't wait to read more by this new to me author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, Medical content, and Lesbophobia

maevekilcarr's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I was not expecting to love this so much, wow I’m speechless. The discussions of grief, coping with trauma, building friendships and bonding with your siblings…this was fantastic. I can’t recommend this enough 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

sky_maris's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

cammaleahh's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Bullying and Cancer

ilikesoccer's review

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

aparker89's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Follow the journey of four adults who served time as children for committing a huge crime against their community. Guilt follows then wherever they go, but they manage until one day HE reappears! Not only is The Magic Man back- but he's out there convincing other preteen kids to commit similar atrocities! 
Find out the truth behind their crime and those that came after and discover where The Magic Man really does get his magic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maziodynes's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

I enjoyed this book more than I thought initially! it's not as scary as I expected, more unsettling, and I liked the overarching theme of breaking cycles of abuse and how they can manifest. I also loved how flawed and, well, messy the cast of characters was. they felt incredibly real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Racism and Stalking

ohyayitsapril's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

arichey1988's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

This horror draws on human nature to build suspense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alexandragriffin's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Sexual assault