Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin

26 reviews

etbliss's review

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

3.0

wanted to love this and I just found it to be a slog! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction and Self harm

sakisreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

As I was going to Taiwan soon, I wanted to read some Taiwanese literature and this was highly recommended on a lot of lists 👏🏼

I loved the queerness of it all. It was very, very gay and I loved that 🏳️‍🌈
Simultaneously, it was very tortured and I felt upset only being able to read depressing queer literature, rather than joyous queer literature. 

I totally didn’t get the reference to crocodiles until I read someone else’s review, my bad 😂

I’m giving this 3.5 out of 5 stars, thank you ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Addiction, and Toxic friendship

melll_brisk's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

multimelverse's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book took me on a journey. In the beginning it was hard to adjust to the journal aspect of the book. Especially when the narrator (Lazi) would move from the past to present (future?) and the crocodile metaphors. The middle was very dark and depressing but still beautifully told. Could be difficult to get though if you’re in a good mood if I’m being honestly. However the watching the Lazi find their queer friends during the college experience was a light in the all the darkness. All that being said, next time my heart gets broken and I know I’m the problem, I will pick up this book and underline the whole damn thing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

americattt's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

“Part of me has been secretly hoping that good things last forever, but it’s time to renounce that hope. I looked across the water, and as my tears fell, I told myself: ‘You can’t hold on to a beautiful thing forever—not in your memory, not even if you keep loving it. If you tried, it would only die in your possession. Beauty must be free to run its course.’ I decided to free you from my heart in a gesture that is nothing short of poignant, for beauty belongs to no one and must be relinquished to the eternal.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Self harm and Homophobia

Minor: Addiction

sarah_kula's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Death, Self harm, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

emmab14's review

challenging dark funny 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

4.25

An exploration into gender, sexuality, and the constraints of society in Taiwan through the view of a conflict riddled narrator and their tormented relationships

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicide, Abandonment, Drug use, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Death, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

lizzie_r's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Drug use, and Vomit

sofipitch's review

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This reminded me a lot of Sylvia Plath, the descriptions of the MC's mental state are raw and visceral. One thing that struck me is I don't think there is an outward scene of a character having homophobic slurs thrown at them as I think a lot of stories would to convey what homophobia looks like. Instead the presence of homophobia just exists as a constant entity in the character's thoughts. Most of the scenes with the crocodile are of it watching tv and seeing what horrible things are being said about it's kind. There was a realism to that constantly hated feeling that I feel like I hadn't seen put at the forefront in anything else. There were a lot of lines that just had me chewing. I withhold any criticisms as this was published posthumously and thus I don't know if it was the author's intended final product

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

Minor: Infidelity, Addiction, and Car accident

alinabkl's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, and Stalking