Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia

22 reviews

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Sadly, this book doesn't work: the writing is clunky, the main character never felt authentic to me, the setup (of her working with the cops) doesn't make any sense, and many of the things she does don't either (she's also constantly getting drunk and hardly sleeps, so maybe her terrible judgement is not that surprising). But the worse part is that we're told who the killer is in the middle of the book and everything that happens after that makes even less sense...

Other reviewers claim the killer was foreshadowed early in the book, but I thought the reveal came out of nowhere.

And then the ending is such a letdown. Ugh. I really wanted to like this book so much, but really I should have DNFed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Infidelity and Stalking

adiajamille's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

After so much build up, the ending felt abrupt. But overall it was an intriguing story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

iridescentdreams's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

captainsillypants's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault and Kidnapping

hailstorm3812's review

dark mysterious 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

3.75

This has such great characters and vibes that it carries it through a lackluster mystery. I love Louise and her friends and journey, and the rich painting the author set. I do wish structurally the second half had gotten another editing pass. It started to feel like things were just happening without adding more to the mystery or raising the stakes.

I really don't think Celia had to die. Louise was already desperate to stop him and on to him, and didn't need extra motivation and her ouiji plan was so odd. I feel like we set up some mystery around Celia's boy and Josie's disappearances and her original kidnapping that we were going to play into but didn't. I think kidnapping one or both of the twins would have been better to up the stakes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

heather667's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Torture

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and War

zoepagereader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I had high hopes for this going in, how could I not when it’s a historical fiction mystery set New York during the Harlem Renaissance? But unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. I did not fully under any of the characters and felt that all of them had only been written at the surface of their stories. I still don’t really understand the motive for murder and still think it should have been someone else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror

mybeevenme's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Child abuse, Hate crime, Stalking, and Alcohol

thirdeyeangel23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I’m obsessed with this world! Louise is known as a hero in Harlem after escaping her kidnapper in her teens. Life has calmed down for Louise until young girls are suddenly being left for dead outside of her workplace. In a turn of events, Louise is forced into investigating this case with local law enforcement and nothing is as it seems. This mystery is brimming with the charm of the Harlem Renaissance while delivering fast paced twists and turns. I love Louise and her band of misfits!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia

venusdapoopiehead's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i could definitely tell that this was a debut novel, the writing felt very simplistic, and even a little flat at times. there was also some times where the author seemed to do more telling not showing, rather than showing not telling, which isn’t to say her writing was bad-i just think the author’s writing style is very typical for a new writer to have, however i definitely think she has room to grow and i might give her other books a try to see if her writing style may have improved. but overall tho, good story, good plot, just good, don’t really have much complaints. i loved the characters and they way they’re written, and even if the twist at the end was kind of predictable (atleast it was for me, cause sometimes i tend to somehow perfectly predict what’s gonna happen in a book) i still liked it. if you’re looking for a nice book that you can read when you just wanna turn your brain off and relax without thinking too deeply, this might be it for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol