Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Boys Don't Cry by Fíona Scarlett

11 reviews

siebensommer's review against another edition

dark reflective

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

I can’t shake off the grime, the drilling thought of knowing that absolutely everyone was right about me all along. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content

betweenbooksandkitsch's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Chronic illness

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I really wanted to like this book, especially considering how alluring the title was. Speaking of the title, I'd like to state that this title is quite misleading on what this book was about. Initially, I thought this book was going to explore the depths of how toxic masculinity affects the youth and how its conditioning has shaped previous generations. Although the author does displays events that depict toxic masculinity she never dives into how those principles and actions affect the main characters at all. Putting the misleading title aside, this book was actually a story about how gang culture shaped a family and its community as well as depicting the battles one faces when faced with a terminal illness.

I understand how many found this story emotional and a phenomenal piece on Dublin and the effects of gang culture and how classism plays a role. However, I felt like the issues this book was tackling were very surface-level. Joe didn't seem like a flushed-out enough character in my opinion and I don't we got enough insight into his grieving for his brother. Also, I was expecting more emotional interactions with the two brothers considering the blurb portrayed them to be very close. 

I'd also like to point out that I'm not familiar with Dublin culture so many of the phrases used were very unfamiliar to me and I just didn't vibe with the way that this book was written. And the ending of this book felt very underwhelming and inconclusive

What happened to his dad? Also, I'm confused about the shooting. Did he shoot his friend?

  I was very confused throughout a few parts of this book. Overall, the book just felt pretty surface-level and just didn't live up to what its potential in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Domestic abuse

lotties_booked's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexual harassment and Gun violence

rachelg's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Blood, and Medical content

aquaria127's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Medical content, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Violence

ashleighvdk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Murder, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, and Gaslighting

bookbeforeuleap's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Cancer

Moderate: Drug abuse

kazzhiggs's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I found the circumstances surrounding the climactic event of this story a bit confusing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Alcoholism, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

skirteen's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail