Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

30 reviews

vildee's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

The way these men retold the story made me sick at times. Felt like I was reading someone’s confession of an addiction.

So so interesting how they come to the conclusion that the girls’ suicides were selfish and that if they just understood how much these man loved them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism

morgancleaver's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Grief

ggwillmott's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Self harm, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Gore

eve_kadou's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Medical content

rainyreadss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The atmosphere is humid and dusty. Choking and coughing. A life begging to be lived. The stench of youth being stifled. What holds us together can be what makes us unravel too. The Lisbon sisters haunt the narrative as if they are a religious experience- angels, capable of leading the narrators to their rapture. Teenage girls loom as mythic muses, magic and ever fleeting. What can never be attained is often mistaken for love. Or maybe, love happens in spite of harsh realities. 

Narrated by the teenage boys, now older, it’s clear we never move on from some things. The biggest qualm for me is how the Lisbon sisters identities are intertwined, the narrators often admitting they cannot tell the sisters apart. It seems Lux and Cecilia are the only two individuals for most of the story, until the end when Mary gets a brief spotlight. There are moments where the sisters blending into a chorus make sense, but it’s the individual quirks and tastes of the girls that are scattered throughout that make them so endearing. 

Ultimately: a tale of teenagers, lust, confusion, escape routes, and tangled tragedies. The differences in our lives separate us as much as they bind us. Where does our story start in the story of another, if the narratives ever cross at all? How much can one soul (or in this case, 5) leave behind? 

“Even when all the unknowns become known, every detail accounted for, every witness interrogated, how much can we ever truly understand our own lives?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual content

brianna2811's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Confinement

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Medical content, Pedophilia, Drug use, Dementia, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

evasophias's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

fucking loved this writing mr. jeffrey slayed this assignment. no notes!!!!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Grief, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexual violence, Racism, and Mental illness

ppp's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Stalking, Grief, Self harm, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, War, Ableism, and Alcoholism

lexigrce's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

this book is just so tragic, the irony of telling a whole story encapsulating these girls’ lives when they truly didn’t know them at all. i remember first watching the movie when i was maybe 16 or 17 and writing it off. but when i rewatched it a year ago, despite being even further from the sisters’ ages than i originally was, i actually understood. reading the book somehow feels more real, seeing the story as it is without the added glitz of familiar celebrity faces, a bunch of made up stories constructed so that the boys could feel interesting and connected to the girls, as if they could even for a second understand what it felt like to be them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Child death, Alcohol, Child abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Very odd book, but I very much enjoyed the writing style - the descriptions were really well done. Felt quite slow to read yet I still managed to finish it in about six hours. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Confinement, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Drug use, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs