Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

17 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Body shaming, and Cancer

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Addiction, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Drug use, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia

Colorism, missing person, r slur.

myrtosfullybooked's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Sabrina & Corina, Kali Fajardo-Anstine 🌼🥀💧 

I've decided to stop giving star reviews to story collections because as we all know, each story will be different and some will hit a chord more than others, but for this book, I couldn't resist. 

The stories in this collection deal with painful themes like intergenerational violence, abandonment, and discrimination, but they are written gently, and they flow easily. If anything, the writing felt minimal but, just like the women whose stories it portrayed, hid many deeper layers - not all of them meant to or being fully revealed to the reader. I feel like I learned a lot about the experiences of Indigenous and Latina women in the American West without the book ever becoming didactic or compromising the atmosphere of the story told. 

Tomi, Any Further West, and Ghost Sickness were my favourites from the collection. Any Further West, especially, felt like a punch in the stomach, but it was so beautifully well-written. I may not be able to explain it very well, but we see characters lost, self-destructive, desperate, or perpetually in pain, and yet somehow what stayed with me was their strength and their survival. The cycles of violence and pain sometimes seem endless and inescapable, but every now and then a daughter will get away and make it; a grandmother will leave a legacy to be honoured; a cousin will be remembered for more than her beauty even if it's by only one person; a lost girl might be found... Normally, these would have been the type of stories I would have found so grim and depressing, and I was really surprised to find myself not wanting the book to end. It is all the things sad girl literature (or the samples of it I've read at least) is trying to be and fails. 

I am so grateful to @bouebooks for putting this book on my radar. I will certainly be reading Woman of Light too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Abortion, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence

zeeck07's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Racism, and Drug abuse

kodi_rae's review

emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Dark and thoughtful, focusing on Latinx/Indigenous women perspectives. These short stories touch on themes of colonization, gentrification, racism, violence against women, family relationships, etc. Reading this book is a unique, alternative way to learn a bit more about Colorado history (since all the stories are set there and the author is from Denver).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism, Death, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Pregnancy

hngisreading's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Violence

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

My favorite stories from this collection were Sugar Babies, Julian Plaza, Sabrina & Corina, and Tomi. 

Overall, a good collection of stories that were generally thought-provoking and interesting. I didn't enjoy all the stories equally but it was still a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicide and Drug abuse

alayamorning's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Colonisation, Child abuse, and Abortion

gabbygarcia's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I want Ghost Sickness to be an entire novel 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Addiction, Genocide, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Abortion, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Suicide

generational trauma, gentrification

garynoplastie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Blood, and Abortion

guperez's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Grief