Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

11 reviews

sandsing7's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault, Blood, War, and Trafficking

ashdawn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This one was even better than the 1st book in the series!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Rape, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Death, and Outing

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

jaecae's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Racism

rainbeauregard's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Trafficking, Suicide, Sexual assault, 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

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.

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted mysterious fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Rape

elizabeth_anne20's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual assault, and Death