Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

122 reviews

courtneyshek's review

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This was so good, I couldn't put it down. I already need to reread it now I know how it ends. Ugh. Definitely recommend, going to read the prequel ASAP now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Death

ariak07's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

OK SO I WAS GOING TO ONLY GIVE THIS BOOK FOUR STARS CAUSE I WASNT FEELING IT REALLY TOWARDS THE END BUT WHEN I GOT TO THE LAST FEW PAGES I WAS IN TEARS SOBBED ON MY PAGES GOD MY BOOK HAS TEARS STAINS IN IT AND MY FACE HURT AFTER SOBBING GOD.

anyway, any book that can make me cry

Spoiler

(mostly cause i felt so attached to these characters and their ending was depressing)

deserves 5 stars imp.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Classism, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

nusmaugt's review

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Racism and Alcoholism

kalzeb's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal death, Classism, Racism, and Alcohol

honey_s's review

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-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

5.0

Made me ugly cry

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Alcoholism, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Racism

klasterni_tajemstvi's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Death, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

gellyreads's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Spoiler

That twist ending was dumb and pissed me off. There were no hints, which makes me mad. This all went downhill once I learned she killed the dogs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism

josie1999's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Based on the fact that all the characters are liars, I found myself questioning whether the author was lying to the reader and whether the information we were given about the accident and what happened was true. In some ways that is accurate, but for the most part the author is not intentionally lying to the readers. The story focuses on the Cadence recovering her memories surrounding the accident during the Summer Fifteen. The jumping back and forth between Summers Fifteen and Seventeen were a little hard to follow. Over the course of the story I found myself jumping ahead and trying to anticipate what had happened. Several of my hypotheses of what led to Cadence's accident were proven false.

I did not expect the twist at the end. After reading the truth, I had to stop for a minute to process whether I actually believed it or not. (I was still in denial and joked that maybe the author was trying to misdirect the reader or that Cadence did not actually remember.) Thinking back, once the twist settled and the accident was explained, I was able to piece together parts of the story that pointed to the twist being what it was. Even after reflecting, the few details were easy to miss and hidden enough in the story that a reader would really need to pay attention to anticipated the ending.

The way the story is laid out with little pieces at a time and uncovering the truth along with Cadence is an enticing way to the keep the reader engaged.

 

Spoiler

One question I have that is still unresolved is whether Penny told Cadence the real truth or the truth that Cadence believed (i.e., she hit her head on a rock while swimming). I assume that is what Penny told her, otherwise it seems she would have known the truth the entire story and was looking for confirmation.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Ableism, and Racism

Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury

v1ct0ry's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

We Were Liars was nothing like I expected. The first huge chunk of the book I fought the urge to skim and skip to the "good part" which I was so sure would come. It did not. There was a surprising twist near the end. Cady came to terms with things and had some character development, but I can't say it was an actually enjoyable read. The vivid descriptions of her headaches were beautiful, the poetry style, and the fairytales were a nice touch, so stars for that. I've seen people saying they re-read it to piece together details they missed, and while I was confused for most of the book, it is not good enough to re-read imo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal death

firxtly's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

Idk man, this book is severely overhyped. I cry more over doctor's appointments and stubbed toes than I did over the "legendary plot twist" that this book holds. For a much, much better use of this trope I recommend 'Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone'. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, and Animal death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Drug use, and Classism