Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

A Neon Darkness by Lauren Shippen

9 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Racism, and Drug abuse

dodecashedron's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

It's always weird when you read a book where the main character is kind of a baddie. 

But I felt the author did a great job of having us empathise with him without sympathising too much or making us forget his own role in all this.

It is so clear that Robert/Damian's view of the world is so skewed,and thst he cannot see this. Every time he fucked up and you thi k he might learn from this, he learns the exact wrong lessons. That combined with 0 accountability make him interesting to read about, impossible to be around. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Addiction, and Murder

theheartisanaro's review

challenging dark sad

3.0

This entire book screams "it's Damien's world and we're all just living in it". It was hard to get through and mostly unpleasant to read but I did find myself understanding Damien to some extent and feeling sympathetic towards him. The one thing I didn't like was the occasional switch between perspectives which felt choppy and didn't really add much to the overall plot. I also generally think Lauren Shippen is better at writing podcasts than books, but I'd still recommend this to anyone who likes The Bright Sessions or enjoys reading about an emo teen with no character development.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Vomit, Alcoholism, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, War, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

poemsarelikepeople's review

challenging mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Cursing, Addiction, Stalking, Islamophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit and Homophobia

beccaand's review against another edition

dark tense 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

Such a fascinating look into Damien's backstory. Villain origin story? You love to see it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

lumberelk's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia

xoodlebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Islamophobia, Addiction, Xenophobia, Stalking, Sexism, and Racism

heebeegbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad fast-paced

• 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

Adored this book because it a challenging insight into an incredibly complicated character. The ending felt So right! The only thing I could have asked for was more action !

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicide attempt

levilore_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A Neon Darkness was an incredible book. The importance of these events to the Damien in TBS was incredible to see unfold and im left with my mouth open and my eyes teary from that ending. I would absolutely recommend this book, even if you have no knowledge of the Atypical world bc the story was just incredible and so impactful. I loved every character and every character had meaning to the story. I can't say enough how much I loved this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Addiction

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Sexism