Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

4 reviews

calamitywindpetal's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Sexism, Dementia, Confinement, Gun violence, Abandonment, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Dementia, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! In all honesty, this kind of horror isn't necessarily my favorite genre. But, I read The Initial Insult last year and had to know how this story ended. In true Mindy McGinnis style, you're in for an absolutely wild ride.

This book picks up immediately where the first one leaves off, with no interruption in the events happening. What I found useful in this book is McGinnis includes the days everything is happening, becuase it would be easy to forget how much time is passing. Especially becuase for parts of the story, Tress is in a state of delirium. As she unravels the complete story, you'll figure out the mystery right along with her. Needing to know why all of this is happening in this town.

Did the ending seem a little far-fetched? Yes, but also so does the rest of the story. So, it kind of fits. I will say, if you get queasy at descriptions of gore or infected wounds, you might want to avoid this one. Because there are some very gruesome descriptions in this book. Like, I had to skip a few sections because I just couldn't do it.

I know the first book was a Poe story re-telling (I don't remember which one), but there are a lot of nods to Poe in general throughout this book. If you are an Edgar Allen Poe fan, I'm sure you would have a great time trying to find all the Easter eggs. Those are masterfully done!

Honestly, I feel like if you know Mindy McGinnis, you know what you're getting into when you pick up this book. She manages to keep the reader on their toes, and this is a dark, gruesome book that should definitely make it on your YA horror lists! 
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Is this a great ending to this duology? Absolutely, yes. Should you read it if you have a squeamish stomach? Probably not. That was absolutely a wild ride, stay tuned for a full review to come later this week!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Murder

Minor: Drug use

thenextgenlibrarian's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

The Last Laugh is the sequel and much-anticipated follow up to The Initial Insult, both of which are a part of The Cask of Amontillado retelling by Edgar Allan Poe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Violence, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Murder