Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

8 reviews

maxwellkb2's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Racism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, and War

lech4617's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

Set during world war 2, I find the characters to have very little in the way of goals that they are working at throughout the book. It is realistic in that sense, that they go through life in a similar manner to ourselves, but i find that it does take away from the engagement of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Ableism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, War, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, Addiction, and Gun violence

jnlundy's review

emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Racism, War, Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Violence, Drug abuse, and Child death

Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, and Alcohol

jebowman123's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was clearly written by a Man™️. I find the racism indulgent, even for a historical book, but the tales woven offer a unique perspective on the times and the strands of which are smoothly intertwined. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: War, Suicide, Racism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Classism

manola's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, and War

Moderate: Child death

nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.0

When war is declared in London, Tom is making blackberry jam. Alistair, Tom's roommate, surprises them both by enlisting, sailing off to the front in France and eventually to besieged Malta. From the other side of town, Mary has volunteered enthusiastically, only somewhat deflated when she is assigned a post as a schoolteacher under Tom's jurisdiction. When (most of) Mary's students are evacuated without her, she barrels into Tom's office, demanding a classroom to continue teaching those "unwanted" children, rejected by the countryside for their skin color, disability, or trauma. The love story that ensues among these three characters--and Mary's best friend Hilda, whose patriotism for the war mostly has to do with all the men in uniform--addresses classism, insecurity, passion, loss, and the nature of bravery. 

This book had all the components that I should absolutely adore in historical fiction (except that it wasn't set in France), yet somehow, I didn't enjoy this WWII novel about an educator! There were elements, of course, that I appreciated, and certainly Mary's devotion to her underserved students topped the list, but ultimately, I only intermittently connected to the characters and was bored more often than not by the lengthy descriptions and extended metaphors. Indeed, the excessive use of "one" as a pronoun frustrated me, and nearly every page contained a line or two that felt overly crafted for the purpose of being "beautiful writing."

I liked Alistair and almost every scene on Malta. Another reviewer mentioned that Alistair had the special effect of making any other character he interacted with seem likable, and it was so true! The scenes on the home front, between Mary and Tom, Mary and her mother, and Mary and her students, particularly Zachary, whose father is the announcer at the local minstrel show, were sometimes interesting, but it was the promise of another scene with Alistair that kept me turning pages. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, and Hate crime

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review

emotional reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, and Racism

carareadsthebooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction and Suicidal thoughts