Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

36 reviews

centrifugepolitics's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Self harm

seren's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

solarel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

At some points in this book I thought I was able to predict what would come next but I was always proven wrong. It kept me in a state of shock at every step with plot twists and reveals. 

With the subject of high school girls, it makes sense that it read like a YA. At some points it felt like it was almost pretentiously trying to be adult, but that’s also on theme. The prose felt like it was trying too hard at times to be dark and edgy, but overall the vibes were very spooky academic. 

Definitely a page turner. I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

vagrantheather's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A spooky dark academia with an unreliable narrator. Lots of fun. I do think the characters are much too well read for teenagers - they all speak academia fluently and have fixed thoughts on concepts and authors unknown outside of the realm of academic literature - would have worked better for me if they were in university looking forward to Masters programs. In general they just aren't at all young acting. And the way all of the adults in the background tacitly permit smoking, drinking, and a total lack of supervision, seems to me more like college than a pricey boarding school full of academically inclined socialites.

But those gripes are minor and in general I loved the mood, setting, writing, moral flexibility, and disconnection from reality. It was a lot of fun to read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Outing

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia

ettegoom's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

This book did everything that Plain Bad Heroines completely failed to achieve.  The characters and their means of dealing with the situations in which they found themselves were sufficiently mysterious and stressful to keep me engaged.  The twist wasn't unexpected, but was still enjoyable, and the conflict between the main character's own delusions and anxieties and the reality of the situation was quite engaging. 
I did find Felicity a little annoying at times, but in the main, I enjoyed the book and wanted the best for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

camieh's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment

peachmoni's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

2.5

You should probably just read The Secret History instead...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Classism

squinnittowinit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Personally I'm not a fan of psychological thrillers, as I find the theme of obsession to be boring. As much as I still did not enjoy what this book was about or any of the characters, I have to admit that it is very well-written. The pacing feels both laid-back and dream-like, yet suspenseful at the same time, as

the narrator slowly reveals herself to be more and more unreliable as she deals with both past trauma and current manipulation.

This is one of those books where all the pieces come together in the end to finally reveal the entire picture, creating a satisfying wrap-up, if nothing else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence and Blood

evhanson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, and Abandonment