Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

35 reviews

jessicabobessica's review

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

pagesandtales's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, and Alcoholism

matcha_cat's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Confinement, and Murder

lpdx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicide, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Torture

Minor: Infidelity

brianna_moye's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

amplawrence's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

hillbilly_heroine's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It’s a fun page-turner but relies on some weird old chestnuts to move the plot forward, e.g. that visually impaired people have super-human hearing. The big reveal was oddly disappointing. That said, the characters are well-written and I was invested in what happened to them. I’d read more by this author, particularly if she ventures outside the mystery genre. Not bad at all. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, and Death

Minor: Confinement, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism

toriwatson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 

The premise of the book was interesting, I really liked the beginning.  It kind of felt anticlimactic/like it didn’t deliver though? Like the answers were given but not in a satisfying way… The switch in narration sort of gave away one of the reveals (not all of it, but if you were paying attention it was fairly easy to spot). Also I wish Bee & Travis' abilities were more explored! It was a quick read though and nice to read on this rainy day!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

billyjepma's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

God, I thought I'd never finish this. I picked up the audiobook of this almost on a whim, informed only by some positive reviews and the fact that it has a small cast of narrators, a feature I always enjoy. While it starts solidly enough, the plot quickly spirals into monotony. The story is little more than a conglomeration of tired true-crime trappings that meander in circles, devoid of memorable characters, meaningful tension, and satisfying payoffs. It's disappointing because the payoffs are interesting on paper, but the reasoning is so flimsy and half-baked that it feels like Ernshaw had to scramble at the end to come up with something.

The writing is mostly fine, despite some stylistic choices I didn't vibe with (no one should ever use "flesh" as often as this book does). There's a decent sense of environment and tone, too. I just spent most of the book waiting for something to happen, and when nothing did, wishing that it had more momentum so I could get to the end and move on.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

erinmjustice's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Suicide