Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

14 reviews

ginbat's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Easy to get sucked into. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket, Wes Andersen, Forrest Gump and The Little Prince.

The plot is somewhat sad/bittersweet. But the true art is in the writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, and Addiction

Moderate: Death of parent, Incest, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Terminal illness, War, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, and Forced institutionalization

There may be a lot of triggering things in this book, but because of the way the book is written, they pass by quickly to move on to the next (also triggering) thing. Death happens relatively frequently for instance, but specifically the death of a parent isn't a repeated thing. If something triggers you but you still want to continue reading, it's generally pretty easy to skip a few pages and then it won't be brought up again. Except for death!! If someone dies that shit is brought up like crazy! Incest:

is it really incest if it's your ninth cousin twice removed?

Addiction/Alcoholism:

One of the main characters becomes and alcoholic at like 14

Death/Grief:

people lowkey drop like flies and then people are sad about it

dulces's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Cancer, Drug use, Grief, and Alcoholism

thalia16's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, War, Pregnancy, and Medical content

skysbooknook's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent and Alcoholism

Minor: War, Incest, and Cancer

tilde_c_s's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death

Minor: Cancer, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Medical content

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Abandonment, War, Animal death, and Homophobia

chezarose79's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Death, Homophobia, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Infidelity, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Cancer

aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

This was one I wanted to keep reading but i didn’t feel I really loved the writing style or even the characters. There was a sadness all through the book that made it difficult to enjoy but I don’t think it had a particularly strong message or view on its theme of love is disaster / love is the only good. Also don’t like books whose endings only set up the next book. 

Questions to ask book club:
Is the curse real? 
What do you think Alice Hoffman’s writing about youth and beauty and age? 
Do you think Franny is consistent? 
What do you think of how she portrayed real events like the Vietnam war and the stonewall riots? 
Did you like the siblings? Who was your favourite? 
This book is a prequel and the ending fairly unapologetically has nothing to do with the book you’ve read and is a preamble to practical magic - did it make you want to read the next one and why? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, War, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content

scam_lark's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Homophobia, and Sexual content

hillysreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

3.5

Ugh I wanted so much more from this book. I enjoyed the characters but just wanted MORE. Maybe it’s because I really loved Magic Lessons (rated it 5 stars) and this was a little disappointing, at least for me, because I needed closure. It’s more of a ‘it’s me not you’ book. I still recommend if you love historical fiction/fantasy books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Sexual content