Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Agathas by Liz Lawson, Kathleen Glasgow

17 reviews

stefhyena's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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

2.0

 Finished. I'm going to assume it was a well-intentioned book in that it sort of discusses problematic families and men's violence including DV. I had trouble believing in any of the characters because they all seemed to be suffering from empathy deficiency. There was a twist at the end which from a purely formulaic perspective was just right but it didn't really work for me in other ways.

My least favourite thing was Alice and the fact that even though there were two protagonists she was constantly subtly pushed as the main-main and Iris as her support. Which makes no sense. But nothing about Alice makes sense. She's a poor little rich girl who has never been loved, supported or approved of and we are supposed to feel sorry for her. But she's also had a kind best friend and a sweet doormat of a boyfriend and a nanny who loves her like an aunt or something and some random hot dude and...and...and....everyone. Like how can she be "no interpersonal skills because such an abandoned loner" and "my best friend Brooke how will I ever..." at the same time? But also noone seemed to care about Brooke's death much including the grandma who treated the "mysetery" as a bit of girlish fun for our heroines.

Alice and Iris constantly did illegal or dangerous things and they were STUPID things. Iris in particular given her family situation would surely stay clear of violent men? Real life survivors usually do. They were cheered on in this by a range of adults- some of the adults were ridiculously stupid and incompetent and others were just irresponsible and unethical. Every conversation had to have unnecessary drama in it and Iris' friends were quite 2 dimensional and irritating (Alice's initial friends were the same but the book used that better). WTF is Cole???? (TBH Zora says it on p 390 but then Iris still....oh gah). Everyone is hetero and race doesn't exist. Also every cliche about American schools that you ever hated from TV is in here. I hope that's not an accurate reflection of teaching in the US!

The Agatha Christie quotes were sort of a nice touch. I also wondered if the guidance counsellors name was a tribute to Christie's nom-de-plume.

I think the idea was good but it was poorly executed. I see from the reviews that I am in a minority and most people liked this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Classism

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Abandonment

megwilli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Murder

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

That was a fun read. Loved the two protagonists and their interactions a lot. A little sad the side characters in the friends group were not equally fleshed out, there is definitely potential for future installments though. The same applies to the plot. It wasn't anything special, just a messy murder investigation. I liked some fresh approaches to the amateur investigation methods, but in the end, there wasn't enough of it for my taste. And it was pretty obvious to me who the murderer was, so... yeah. But I loved the writing. Not only the way Alice's and Iris' friendship progressed, but also the use of social media. It was really well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

I really enjoyed this book! I'm working my way through Agatha Christie's work so this was extra fun. I didn't figure out the who-dun-it until later in the book, which is always a plus. I appreciate the domestic abuse part of the book as well. It added another layer to the book as did Alice's disappearance mystery. I also loved most of the characters. I really hope that there's a sequel, as the ending seemed open to that! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

anniereads221's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

princessreadsalot's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I had so much fun reading this book. After reading the ARC from Netgalley, I plan to preorder a physical copy. I would recommend this book to teens that love Agatha Christie or Pretty Little Liars or Veronica Mars or just mystery in general. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug use