Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon

24 reviews

thatokiebird's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

1.0

Fruit of the Dead is a book where nothing but tragedy and bad choices happen to all characters in this acid trip of a modern reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter. Told in alternating points of view between aimless 18 year old Cory and her controlling mother, Emer, it reads like a fever dream where no theme or idea is ever fully fleshed out as Cory floats around an island in addiction and Emer floats around with the obsession of finding her disappeared daughter.

I disliked everything about this book, the writing, the characters, the storylines. I totally get that I would have gotten way more out of this if I was super familiar with the Greek myth and if I enjoyed finding the easter eggs of references to the myth throughout this book. But I just didn't like the modern setting, where it lacked the magic and fantasy elements of a Greek myth. Instead it was just horrible thing after horrible choice happening to modern people who have no redeeming qualities who bring everything upon themselves. I read this for Bookclub, and it was a fun discussion especially since other readers had liked it a lot. It made me think about it in different ways than when I read it, but it definitely didn't improve how much I ultimately didn't like it. 
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abbyrose237's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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masonwe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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bookishrona's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.5

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unknownportrait's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

3.75

a tense book switching perspectives between Cory (third person) and Emer (first person) through an addicting story

the first half of this book felt slow, and i kept being pulled away by it, especially from emer’s perspective, because i had no interest in her work or how it connected with the story

i enjoyed the second half much better - hazy and dizzying as we switched between a girl trapped in a dark romance and a mom going to great lengths for her daughter. no quotation marks are used, which is hard to adjust, but it added to the effect - blurring thoughts, words, and actions altogether. i really appreciated the mom’s perspective at this point as it added another layer to a rather overused plot, and i loved the desperation, the willingness it clung to

the ending, a climate of jitteriness, had disappointed me. i was sad to see that several topics — very important/tragic ones at that — were not covered or mentioned at all

overall, i felt that none of the topics or ideas in this book were fully covered - they felt empty. however, it was still a good read that had me on edge
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jaefrie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Loved the writing, there were moments where things felt forced though. 
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carojust's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a trippy story based on Persephone, Demeter and Hades -- an aimless teenage daughter caught in a billionaire's hell, while her mother dissolves, not knowing where she's gone, searching for her along the northeastern coast. 

I think there's only so many storylines about extremely beautiful, self-destructive blond waifs that I can take. If "The Guest" by Emma Cline and "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" by Ottessa Moshfegh are your faves, you'll absolutely love "Fruit of the Dead" -- it's formulaic and frenzied, the same drug haze and unconsenting / triggering scenes, the body odor and broken faces combined with "but she's still so pretty, prettier in fact," the trail of gross men who erode innocence, etc. A yacht girl, sugar daddy tale of caution. What anchors this book's plot, and differentiates it from the aforementioned titles, is the deep dive into a mother's complicated relationship with her daughter, and the desperation and sacrifice that come with that version of love. That perspective resonated with me, and I think helped this plot move along. The end is hurried and attempts to paint the mother as a hero, but falls flat for me, and misses an opportunity to build further on the tragedy.
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aseel_reads's review

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

3.75

If it wasn't for the annoying flowery/lyrical/purple prose x 1000 writing style, this would have been an interesting reflection on mother-daughter relationship. I just couldn't stand the writing style. 
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victoria_catherine_shaw's review

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adventurous dark tense 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

4.0

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sakeriver's review against another edition

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

5.0

There is a lot in this book about addiction, obsession, money, patriarchy, rape culture, and the tension between parents and children. That latter is what hit me the most, and the final line was just chilling. I think this is Rachel Lyon’s best work yet.
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