Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Idol

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Idol by Louise O'Neill

26 reviews

theunfinishedbookshelf's review

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

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books_r_cool's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was so unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s safe to say I’m now obsessed with this book and it will be the only thing I think about for a while.
The plot twists of the main character realizing she misremembers things? Exquisite.
This book was packed with social commentary but not once was it boring. The writing style and the storyline in general was SO GOOD.
At the end I liked not a single character, they were all such bad people and they all sucked. The way they were written was so modernly evil.

Samantha in the beginning was a successful woman who had built an empire for herself healing and empowering women through her own stories of trauma and her life experiences. Lisa’s claim absolutely ripped her life to shreds as we saw everything deteriorate from her social presence, her image on social media to her health mental and physical. She goes to her hometown to try to sort this mess out but as the reader we end up seeing everything fall to absolute pieces as we find out that Sam has misshapen so many of her memories and experiences to the point that she believes they’re true herself. These characters are so flawed (not in a quirky girlboss way, they are literally fucked in the head especially Sam). In the end we find out that Sam has gaslit herself once more but for the very major thing that is Lisa’s sexual assault claim being true. Her career is gone, she is a terrible person (and not to mention extremely mentally ill and delusional) and nothing was solved and no one learnt anything. It ended in turmoil I absolutely loved this book.

This book was amazing incredible showstopping and I loved it. (please read cws)

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kmglennie's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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samskie88's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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thatbookishgem's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

gretahenrietta's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

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hippiequeen's review

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Such a catchy and dark novel, it had me hooked and quite often twisted my guts. At first, I was rooting for Sam, but then oh god, it seemed like everyone was just soaking in darkness in this story. I guess it’s the beauty of Louise O’Neill’s writing; I have been reading her stories since I was 18 and they have helped immensely with dealing with my own traumas. This book is not for those who can be triggered by a number of things, so I would recommend being careful, but overall it’s such an amazingly written book.

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