Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Strangers by Katherena Vermette

34 reviews

safsaf118's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

I've been trying to think about how I feel about this book and I'm just so conflicted. It's so, so depressing and draining -- at the beginning, the author mentions she tried to cram as much love and hope as she could but I really struggled to find it. Of course, this story is about intergenerational trauma and the long-lasting impacts of colonialism so I wasn't expecting a necessarily happy story but I really felt like there was not really any structure. There were so many characters and family relatives it was hard to keep track of names, the timelines jumped all over the place and there was a lot of missing information that I found out was revealed in The Break (the author's previous book, wish I had known that before reading but oh well). The thing about telling a story from multiple perspectives is that there are always some characters you end up liking more. I really did like how each of the perspectives had their own distinct voice and the palpable emotions we can feel in their words. I was so anxious the whole time and worried about what the characters would do, and some chapters ended up "cliffhangers" that aren't really revealed??? It's a heavy, exhausting read but after hundreds of pages of despair it ends up becoming quite numbing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault

soobooksalot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

naomibender's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

erinnz's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

4.25

A beautiful text showing the depths of generational trauma and the sorrow that comes with it. A non-preachy, yet tearful and powerful, story of what’s it like to be systematically oppressed, in every possible way, for years and years, through generations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

ferrgus19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.5

The Strangers picks up where The Break left off.

It starts with Phoenix Stranger pregnant and in jail. The scenes of Phoenix handcuffed to the bed while giving birth and then having to give up her newborn son after holding him briefly are some of the most harrowing I've read. The book then follows the ups and mostly downs of the rest of the Stranger family: Phoenix's drug-addicted mother, Elsie, ever hopeful of turning her life around and having a family with her daughters; her tough, emotionally distant, and secretly long-suffering grandmother, Margaret; and her studious younger sister, Cedar, who spends time in foster homes and eventually moves in with her father's second family.

It's pretty bleak, but there are some glimmers of hope at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy

jen_again's review

challenging dark sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Death of parent

francestea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow, this book did not disappoint. It’s just as good as The Break (maybe even better) with a few overlapping characters that I liked catching up with. Vermette can really write.  Her characters are sympathetic -in that they are likeable (or at least understandable)- and incredibly well rounded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death and Death of parent

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

I was a little bit hesitant going into this one because I was worried it might turn into a sort of "redemption arc" for Phoenix where she's suddenly not at fault anymore for the part she played in the events of The Break. I really enjoyed it, though.

At its heart, this is a book about mothers and daughters, and the way people try (and sometimes fail) to connect. The characters all have unique voices (though I don't get why some were first person and some were third person) and perspectives. It was interesting to read about the same events from the wildly differing points of view of two characters who were both there. There were a few parts that felt kind of like they were included to check off a list (one character’s abortion felt a little "okay I haven't included this experience yet" for me).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

zee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Abortion and Suicide attempt

biblizo's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Death of parent