Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Dune by Frank Herbert

80 reviews

kergo's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Islamophobia

Minor: Suicide

itsjustnxkki's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

World building was a bit confusing at first but the pace is slow enough that it makes more sense as you get further into the book. The story is captivating and the writing style is enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

yzvt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking

nyx_sf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.25

With this book being my first delve into the space opera genre, I feel the word epic truly describes this world and the plot that weaves its way through it.

After spending a very long amount of time for a book reading this, it has changed my views on certain things and I love the way it makes you compare the conflicts from the book to current issues in society today.

The main divide between government and religion is quite dark, and there are a few scenes that were somewhat of a drag to read (mainly entirely dialogue scenes between government officials or off-world characters to the main plot) but overall, this remains one of the best books that I have ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Violence

jonssweater's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense

3.0

The worldbuilding was decent, I can say that much. Otherwise, I felt this was far longer than necessary with too many characters to keep track of. I also found it strange that the author did not explain any backstory for the reader; rather, the story appears to start in the middle. 

I would have preferred more information about the technology and engineering of these future civilizations. How did Earthlings go from landing on the moon to

intergalactic eugenics and war

? Where was the science in this science fiction?

A lot of heavy themes in this book club pick:

religion, addiction, cults, war, politics, misogyny, eugenics, sexual harassment

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Relevant quote:

“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it's too late.”

Frank Herbert, Dune (Dune, #1), 1965

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Pedophilia and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Incest

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Slavery, Blood, and Alcohol

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Well, if that isn't the spiciest book I've ever read.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

All jokes aside, I wasn't expecting to cry while reading this book but dang, it got me in my feels.  I was familiar enough with the plot due to seeing so many versions of it, including the most recent adaption, and while the adaptions are quite faithful, there was nuance that was omitted and I appreciated the journey of reading this to find those little bits.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

viktoriann's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Incest, Misogyny, and Slavery

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

Ningún desastre más terrible podría sobrevenir a tu gente que caer en manos de un éroe.

¿Cómo empezar a reseñar un libro tan complejo y denso como Dune? Dune es una tragedia. Es una historia donde todos los personajes saben exactamente lo que va a suceder y aún así no pueden evitar lo que va a pasar. Siempre van a tomar las mismas decisiones, siempre van a acabar en el mismo punto. Lo emocionante es el camino que toma la historia para llegar a ese final ya pronosticado y la comprensión de que no había manera de parar el destino.

En un futuro lejano, los humanos han llegado a las estrellas y se han multiplicado, organizándose en feudos bajo el mando del emperador. En este imperio espacial el artículo más importante es la melange, la especia. Sin este bien el imperio se paralizaría de la noche a la mañana. La cofradía no podría volar sus naves espaciales, los mentats no podrían calcular ni las Bene Gesserit confabular. Y esta materia preciosa solo se puede conseguir en el desolado y desértico planeta Arrakis. Por muchos años bajo el control de la Casa Harkonnen se vienen vientos de cambio cuando el emperador le cede la concesión del planeta al duque Leto Atreides, un evento que cambiará el destino de la galaxia de una forma violenta e impredecible.

Este es un libro denso y complejo, lleno de ideas que necesitan ser digeridas para ser entendibles. Es una historia sobre política, venganza y los peligros del fanatismo de cualquier tipo. Seguimos a Paul Atreides, hijo del duque, quien termina en una situación en la que todos los caminos conducen al sufrimiento, ya sea de él o del universo. Poco a poco nos damos cuenta de lo lejos que irá por lograr su cometido y cómo estas acciones cambian quién es, hasta que lo que queda es irreconocible. La evolución de los personajes en este libro me gusta mucho porque obliga al lector a analizar la situación a profundidad, no existe tal cosa como los buenos y los malos sino personajes tomando decisiones difíciles cuyas motivaciones tienen muchos matices.

Para mí, lo mejor de este libro es la habilidad de Frank Herbert de crear un mundo ficticio que podría ser real. Creó desde cero un universo que se asemeja al nuestro, pero que es lo suficientemente alien para entretener y fascinar. Aunque esto puede ser una traba para entrarle al libro, ya que de entrada el lector debe sumergirse en un mundo completamente nuevo solo con un glosario de guía, y por esa razón, el inicio de esta obra puede parecer eterno. Mucha gente hablando sobre cosas que todavía no tienen sentido por páginas y páginas. Pero, sí mejora, por lo menos para mí, y si gustan de intrigas políticas este libro tiene suficiente de eso.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War