Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

9 reviews

hellokatya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

i had really high hopes for this book, and for the most part: it fulfilled them.
the entirety of the book kept me really engaged and locked in, aside from a few slow parts.
the aspect of time travel did confuse me a bit, but in an intriguing way that made me more encapsulated.
i would definitely recommend this book for someone wanting to venture out into broader genres, without jumping head in.

my only gripe is how abrupt the ending was. we never got any real answers. did kirby figure out and accept that harper was time traveling? did dan survive? did she get the closure she needed from finding her (would be) killer and killing Him? did she and dan pursue a relationship? how did she move on and heal from the trauma? 
i did appreciate the chapter from bartek and thought it was a really nice addition. a really nice way to finish it off.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Outing, Transphobia, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Deadnaming and Medical trauma

ferrot_lectorapromedio's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Car accident, Drug abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Death

sunnysiding's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A book centered on the victims of serial killings rather than idolizing the killer. Exciting, heart wrenching, achingly human.

Lost a star for the bizarre subplot of Dan being in love with Kirby. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Gore, Suicide, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Abortion, Sexual content, Medical content, Mental illness, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Homophobia, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Rape, and Sexual harassment

There is an entire chapter that heavily features animal injury/death:

Kirby's dog is killed, brutally, trying to protect her

. It's pretty expected for a book about serial killing but it is visceral and detailed. There are several other depictions of animal cruelty, injury, and death.

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, and Drug abuse

Minor: Abortion and Homophobia

chloemakesbooks's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

1.0

Poorly written, flat characters, and a total lack of suspense or fear- just sadness. A good editor should have seen where the real book was and refocused the story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Ableism, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Sexual content

kelseak96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Really good! I struggle finding thrillers that aren’t cliche, where I’m actually invested in the characters, and that keep me guessing, and this book did a great job of that! Like others have said, there’s a lot about the universe, the House, the characters’ backstories that isn’t explained, but I think it’s done in a way which makes it feel like we’ve just met these characters or stumbled upon the House like any other stranger. Would absolutely recommend!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Transphobia

the dog dies

purecomedy's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Racism, and Transphobia

Minor: Abortion and Drug abuse

sonyareadsbooks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Abortion, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fatphobia

sarah984's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I thought this was an intriguing premise for a book, a time-travelling killer and a magical house, but the final product disappointed me. We spend WAY too much time in the killer’s head and he's extremely boring if you're not into reading the same rant about how he hates women 400 times. The romance with Kirby and her supervisor is stupid and never really amounts to anything

(and in the end she STILL needs a man to save her!)

and the explanation for the magic behind the house’s time travel abilities is the absolute most boring one you could pick. The "blaccent" on a few of the Chicago characters is borderline racist parody. The other shining girls are all really interesting but when you finally get invested in them they die horribly so it feels a bit pointless. For some reason I thought this was going to be about Kirby trying to save the others, but it isn't.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Gun violence

Minor: Ableism, Antisemitism, Deadnaming, Dementia, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Self harm, Transphobia, and Vomit