Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

12 reviews

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

I think both the beginning and ending of Starling House were strong, but the middle really dragged along. There was a lot of back-and-forth between Arthur and Opal that could've been pared down. Of the 2 weeks I spent reading this, the first 65% I read in a couple days. Then the remaining 35% took a week and a half. I do think the narrator was part of my issue though. I just wasn't engaged by her reading.

I also wanted more of the book to touch on the racism Jasper faced in Eden. I wanted Jasper to better scold Opal for the way she ignored about that part of him. She made a comment later on that alluded to her getting it in part. But she also definitely was very forgetful of his race. The book itself barely even acknowledged his race. It took until the middle of the book for me to determine his ethnicity - maybe that's my bad and I missed an early tell. But I think overall, this book wanted to hide details and it didn't always handle that well. It would be evasive and add extra page time instead of being a bit more upfront about things. Maybe that was purposeful too with Opal's personality. But it felt like it was just trying too hard.

The premise felt like a cross between The Hazel Wood and Book of Night. I thought it was meant to be horror, but it wasn't horror so much as gothic. More of a magical realism/low fantasy romance. This book could've been great but I think it needed further editing and less evasive plot points. I get it. Most details were meant for "reveals" later but it became excessive when I got lost wondering what the point of the book was. Or what was going on period. 

P.S. I'd have loved more of a violent ending for the Gravely family and Elizabeth Bane.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Car accident, Stalking, Slavery, Racism, Sexism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Violence, Grief, and Police brutality

Minor: Homophobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Incest, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

themis_biblos's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

They averted their eyes from evil and, in so doing, became complicit in it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Classism

Minor: Incest

gracescanlon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Self harm, Death of parent, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Car accident, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Incest, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Animal death, Slavery, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

purplatypus's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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: Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Car accident

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Cursing, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Slavery, Vomit, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcohol, Racism, and Alcoholism

darkdahlia9's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abandonment, Murder, Incest, Slavery, and Alcoholism

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

I really really enjoyed this Southern Gothic horror. I’ll try to write a full review on my blog tomorrow but for now..wow!
The descriptions were vivid and beautiful in a haunting kind of way. The characters were uniquely flawed to the point where you couldn’t help but empathize with their pain. The sins in the book were atrocious, and the themes of identity, belonging, and mercy crawled across the pages, igniting the words into some higher morals. And of course, who doesn’t love a sentient house? 
I also thought it was super unique to include footnotes and a fictional bibliography! What a way to add voice. 
The only reason it’s not five stars is because there are parts of the ending I wasn’t thoroughly satisfied with. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Sexual content, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

baconlettuce19's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Car accident, and Alcoholism

flohbeutel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Car accident, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Racism, Bullying, Classism, and Blood

Minor: Drug use

emillyrw's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Drug use, and Alcoholism

bi_n_large's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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: Death of parent

Moderate: Slavery, Racism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Grief, Incest, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Police brutality, Homophobia, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia