Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

If I Can't Have You by Charlotte Levin

8 reviews

lydabuff's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Quite a hard read, as there's quite a few difficult themes and a lot of mentions of vomit, but enjoyable. 

Constance is a complicated and lonely woman reeling from a personal tragedy when she meets Dr Samuel and well, she gets a bit more unhinged. 

Levin writes brilliant, layered characters including my favourite grumpy old man Edward. Constance flits from being someone you can fully understand and empathise with to making the worst and cringiest decisions but this helps her feels three dimensional and real. 

Definitely one to read but, mindfully, for some of the content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Vomit, and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm and Violence

reggiereading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chloe_silk1810's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

Not the best ending in the world, was heavily invested though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

cinderelliex's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

beth_orourke's review against another edition

emotional slow-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

3.75

While this book was quite slow paced, I thoroughly enjoyed the ending. A total tearjerker towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Death of parent

meganabigailreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

becca__lindsay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Death of parent, and Abandonment

honestlyholly's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

EDIT jan 2023 - i'm going through and reclassifying some reviews now that i've read more and sat on the books for a while.

how did I say that I'd lowered the review bc the ending was rubbish and yet still give it a 3.5? i need to sort myself out omg

originally 3.5 stars

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Tense and anger-inducing! The 2 main males in the story are utter creeps! Constance, the main character, has major issues and honestly acts like a crazy person, but is at least interesting. She has trauma from her parents, even if the

suicidal mum thing is a bit tropey at this point, and was so obviously not her fault??

I rated this down a bit because I was expected a big twist or a shocking finale, whereas it was kinda of a bit... Meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent