Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

6 reviews

kimapede's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol

peachylite's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

honeyland's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

I loved this book. The start was a little slow but once it got going, I really loved it. Family dynamics (both living and difficult), current politics cleverly wrapped up in a fantasy setting, a strong female main character (this is one of the few books that actually managed to make the main char cter be my favorite (besides Ty, of course)). But I also really enjoyed the side characters. I feel like all of them had important motivations and character development of their own that made them feel like they weren't just there to support the main character.
I also loved that this book was so casually queer, it was just part of the world, both for protagonists and antagonists.
The politics were super interesting, especially the last few chapters and it just felt so thought-through with many twists and intrigues that just...made sense.

I kinda felt like Levi was a introduced a little late or at least didn't show up enough by the time he did for how much of an important role he played but I didn't mind too much. It made him feel a little bit like a late story scapegoat bc despite seeing the signs looking back, I think all of them were a little too subtle to actually make me think "ooh I should have figured that out!" But since I still enjoyed him as the antagonist he was, it doesn't make or break the boom to me.

I also just generally enjoyed the world this was set in, the way magic worked, the familiars and all that came with it. One of the books that again reminded me why I love reading fantasy novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer and Pregnancy

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

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the free copy of this book.

 - THE POISONS WE DRINK is a dark story, full of characters overflowing with rage and love, fighting against a system designed to eliminate them.
- I loved the world Baptiste built here. There’s a complex magic system that promises real rewards and major consequences. It’s also set in DC, which I love, and you can tell Baptiste has true familiarity with the city.
- There was so much going on in this book that it was often too much - the interpersonal relationships and politics became a bit confusing as the layers of treachery built, and it was a bit overly long for me in the portion in the middle where Venus was uncovering secrets.
- Still, I am excited to see where Baptiste goes as an author, since POISONS is stuffed full of unique and exciting ideas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Police brutality