Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

48 reviews

maggiespages's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

honestly i was so confused the entire time i read this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death of parent

riverlasol's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense fast-paced

4.0

this was a powerful debut about magic, discrimination, and family bonds. i did get a little lost with some of the world building moments but it was WORTH IT 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

mackayla_carmichael's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death of parent

book_gremlin42's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense 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: Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, and Police brutality

wylder's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Gun violence

vanessamariebooks's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

Bookclub discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/L0GNH8W7CAU?si=OG-rwimTPy_ZTpoE 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

antimonium's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

There was a lot going on in this book. I was listening to it on audio and if I zoned out for even a second I'd end up very confused. The world building was both too much (lots of exposition and telling) and too little (big gaps that should have been filled in). I wish the deviations had been explored more - still not sure what that was all about. The political machinations were very complex and somewhat hard to follow. The final villan reveal and twist didn't have much impact. I appreciate the coverage of many important topics that parallel our own world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death

aroma_of_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense 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: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

frannook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bellebookcorner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

I have mixed feelings regarding this book…. 

There are some parts that I like and some parts that didn’t really work out for me even though the blurb sounds very interesting. 

 

The characters are well developed and very complex, there’s a lot of morally grey characters with their own secrets and reasons for their actions which sometimes makes it hard for me to pin point the culprit behind Venus’s (FMC) mom murder. 

Venus was a great character, I admire her love for her sister, her intelligent and her strength. 

 

The world building is unique but at the same time it’s also quite complicated, especially regarding the witches and their powers. 

I struggled to remember all the terms and information given at the beginning which sometimes can be confusing for me. 

I found out there’s a glossary at the end of the story that explains some of that information. It would be nice if it was put at the beginning of the story. 

 

This story felt too long and also dragging in some parts, the main plot also didn’t start until it hit the 30% mark. Although, the last few chapters are quite intense and I was surprised by that plot twist! 

 

Just a warning that some parts/topics in this story can be sensitive to some readers, there’s a list of trigger warnings inside the book but I’ll listed here for you if you want to know beforehand. 

 

For a debut novel, it was pretty good – I love the plot idea and the unique world building. 

It would've been better if the length was shorter and maybe made this into a series so the readers can immersed into the world building slowly.  

 

Thank you to Turn the Page Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

 

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: This story contains morally grey characters, complicated parent-child relationships, police brutality, fantasy violence, fantastical racism, magical coercion, gun violence, politics, parental death, child death, and dying/death. 

In addition, there are depictions of post-traumatic stress disorder anxiety, and depression. 

Self-harm, blood, gore, sexual situation, fantasy drugs, underage drinking and profanity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Vomit