Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Seep by Chana Porter

14 reviews

sinslashcos's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Transphobia, Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Sexual content

mxpringle's review

adventurous challenging reflective 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

4.5

I loved how real this book felt in terms of its insights on human nature. I need more books by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Addiction

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse

paguroidea's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I liked some parts of this but it really needed more world building and the characters could’ve had more depth. The diversity felt kind of like a checklist too, as if it were thrown in as an afterthought. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Addiction

aely's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

3.25

It was a good book, I’ll give it that. It made me reflect on my own life, which is always a good thing, in my opinion. I just didn’t care all that much about the characters, other than the boy and he didn’t end up playing that much of a role in the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes dystopia and living in the present. I didn’t connect much with the characters, but I didn’t dislike any of them either. It was a good book, just not a great one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual content, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Body horror, Medical content, Transphobia, War, Death, and Dysphoria

tigger89's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

This book was incredible. I can't think of any other piece of media I've consumed that has featured a middle-aged trans women who isn't particularly femme as the protagonist, so that alone was unique. I also enjoyed the take on a utopia, where you can see how much better things are while at the same time spotting the cracks where maybe there's something less-than-perfect under the surface. Yet there isn't some grand conspiracy to uncover. This isn't the story of how the alien invaders were unmasked and repelled. The utopia is presented as a good thing, probably(though, like all good speculative fiction, it does leave you wondering a little).

Rather, this is a story that deals primarily with grief, as we follow Trina mourning not just the loss of her wife but also that of the world she remembers. She rejects the Seep, choosing to do things the old way whenever possible, a perspective that leaves her unable to cope when confronted with new views on death and rebirth. Her devotion to the old ways is ultimately so destructive that it puts her own health at risk, an apt metaphor for what humanity is doing to our planet and each other with the way we live. It's a sad story, but beautiful as well.

The one thing I thought was a little odd was how Trina's heritage was handled. She's half Jewish and half Native American. My apologies, if the nation was specified I've forgotten it and can't locate it now. While her Jewishness is reflected upon somewhat in the narrative, her Native American heritage didn't seem to be explored to any degree beyond her name: Trina FastHorse Goldberg-Oneka. Now, I'm not trying to say that a character's heritage has to be important to the plot. Of course they can just be Jewish, or Chinese, or Ojibwe, or whatever. What stood out to me here was the lopsidedness of it, where one half of her identity was recognized in the story while the other was kind of just...there. Perhaps this is a fault of the reader, that I didn't know enough to recognize the moments when it was made relevant. It's very possible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Abandonment, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Death and Suicidal thoughts

electric_death_'s review

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Transphobia

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Gun violence, and Addiction

nikenacs's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Grief, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death and Racism

asexualandriod's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content

The content warnings for drug use and addiction are in reference to the alien lifeforms that are present in the book. They are microscopic, in things like food and water, and their elevated presence exhibits similar symptoms to highs from drugs. The narrative surrounding the aliens is often framed as an addiction.

imrereads'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

3.0

This was an interesting concept, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. I felt like it got a bit lost in itself, getting close to thr real gold again and again, but falling a bit short everytime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Grief, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism

afriske's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol