Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

4 reviews

maddiereadswords's review against another edition

5.0

 Oh, this one hits different in a post-Covid world. :) 

That being said, this is still my favorite book in the whole series, mostly because I would both kill and die for Ling Chan, disabled autistic ace-spec mean lesbian extraordinaire. <3 I literally don't even have coherent thoughts about this book, it's just so fucking good!! It's fun, spooky, and it both breaks and warms my heart at the same time, and I swear every time I read it those 600 pages feel even shorter. And that final meeting scene?? These angsty 1920s teenagers are my Avengers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Antisemitism, Confinement, Deportation, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Vomit

k_galloway's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Racism, Drug use, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Abandonment, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, and War

Minor: Rape

ellanarose's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I positutely loved Lair of Dreams.  It was so much fun falling back into this world with Evie and Sam and Theta and all the rest.  And some things just felt so timely, particularly in the conversations about the sleeping sickness and xenophobia.  I love these characters to the bone and Libba Bray's writing style never fails to impress me.  She works tension and spookiness and romance and character growth together effortlessly and I find myself enraptured by the story until the very end.  I wouldn't change a thing about this book, I really wouldn't.  Looking forward to book three, and also... I really appreciated the nod to Gemma Doyle, that was fun.

I'm afraid for our characters in what is to come, to be honest.  I fell so hard for Sam Lloyd in this book and I was quite certain that he wasn't going to make it to the end, because reading books has taught me to just expect the worst.  So many loose ends were tied up, but now there are so many NEW ones.  I loved every moment of Lair of Dreams, but I'm a little worried that it's going to give me a book hangover, I liked it that much.  I definitely recommend this book, and the whole Diviner series to date!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship