Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

2 reviews

alaskanfae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Hate crime, and Police brutality

genny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Ahhh! I loved the first book, and this one even more. This, I think, was a "smarter" mystery than the one in the first book. It let the author give insightful commentary on homophobia, racism, PTSD, etc., while making it all part of the main plot. The 1920's setting feels integral to the story instead of shallow window dressing. All the talk about eugenics made my skin crawl. It was also a hit emotionally

; my heart broke for Wai-Mae and Louis

! If you pay attention, it's quite easy to guess the "twists" but they were still impactful. As always, I loved Bray's descriptions of the many neighborhoods of New York - like a screenplay...I can imagine this working very well as a live action adaptation. I'm very attached to the main cast now and I bookmarked way too many Sam/Evie moments, haha. The ending

with them all gathered together as they talk about their powers, and then Will and Sister Walker walk in...

was perfectly cheesy, like a nod to superhero team-ups. I'm only halfway through this series but already dreading its end!

Again, gotta give props to the audiobook narration. The cast has grown larger yet LaVoy was still able to give everyone distinct voices. This is the longest audiobook I've listened to, but every second was worth it. It is...the elephant's eyebrows! (Sorry.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, and Vomit

Racism against Chinese people is tied to the central plot and is experienced by one of the main characters (Lin); there's name-calling, race-segregated establishments, and talk of "cleansing" America of "inferior races" (including Black people). Flashbacks of Henry's past show homophobia from his father, which ultimately leads to (violence):

Louis being beaten to death

. Theta has flashbacks to an abusive relationship (w/ physical harm). Numerous people die throughout the book. Suicide:

Henry's mom suffered from mental illness and attempted suicide; Jericho helped a suffering soldier commit suicide.

Trafficking:

Wai-Mae was deceived into becoming a prostitute.

And I'm not sure this would count as alcoholism, so I didn't tag it accordingly, but Evie drinks heavily throughout the book and is often inebriated.