Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

29 reviews

brianna_moye's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Drug use, and Alcoholism

Minor: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Rape

blewballoon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I struggled with this one. I really wanted to like it, I went to Catholic school and I knew some pretty cool nuns. There was a lot of potential in the premise. I thought this would be a fun time, despite being a murder mystery. It wasn't fun, it wasn't funny, and it didn't have anything new or interesting to say. It was just a series of awful people either doing awful things or having awful things done to them while the author describes how hot and humid it is every other sentence. (Do check the content warnings, there is a lot of dark stuff here.) The book is written in a stream of conscious sort of way, so I would be in a scene and then three paragraphs later the narrator was still musing, reminiscing about the past in a vague way, and talking about how hot it is, and I would have forgotten what was even happening. This was made worse by listening on audiobook and not being able to just flip back or skip over, but I do think Mara Wilson did a good job narrating the material she was given. Sister Holiday makes incredibly bad choices, is selfish and hard to root for, and doesn't really figure anything out that isn't completely obvious. The word "sleuthing" is heavily overused by her, especially considering that she doesn't actually do any. I would say the diversity is good, but because the diverse people are flat or terrible, I'm not sure the representation does anyone a service. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Cancer, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Incest, and Self harm

bronteberry's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism

madsw14's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Drug use, Death, Rape, Animal death, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity, Incest, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Fatphobia, Self harm, Confinement, and Sexual harassment

marareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

A punk, queer, tattooed, sleuthing nun who is trying to solve crime in her New Orleans convent. I HAD to read this. It was definitely a fun read. HEAVY on the triggers, so please read with care and awareness. It is a slow burn on the mystery. Some very interesting, and heavily traumatized characters. Certain characters felt like they relief heavily on some stereotypes, which felt a little disingenuous. However, it was the first book of this kind and was unique, and jarring. So, overall after checking TW, I'd recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, and Drug abuse

booksareoxygen's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.0

This novel takes imagery we know, and the tropes we thought would be true, and turns them on their head. As the story unfolds you see the characters unfold unto their full humanity. While we see the narrative from Sister Holiday’s point of view this offers a rich and nuanced view of the other characters in the novel, and allows us a glimpse of the lives we may be passing everyday on the street. And as much as this is a murder mystery, it is also a mosaic of contemporary fiction, queer commentary, and the turmoil of an identity crisis. 4/5
 
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for sending the book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Violence, Hate crime, Rape, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Cancer, and Death of parent

littlelili1320's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

It took a bit for me to get into this. It could be due to my biases against Christianity caused by my upbringing. I'm also bisexual. I just found it hard to believe that such a queer, "punk" girl would be so religious. I can understand wanting to escape & become a nun after the trauma, but even before that she had a bunch of Christian tattoos & spoke scripture while fooling around with a girl. I found myself rolling my eyes at both her & the nuns. 

Thankfully, more of her ideas about God come forth & it's far more believable. The book also picked up pace. I did guess the cuplrit but that's fine. An animal does die, which seemed unecessarry. I did overall enjoy the book. I look forward to reading the next one. If she does decide to take her vows & she doesn't secretly act on her sexuality I might get pissed lol. I really don't think it would be believable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

Moderate: Rape, Incest, and Infidelity

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Cancer, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

solarpqwer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Zando Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was honestly unlike anything I've ever read before! I'm a sucker for a mystery and this crime fiction debut was certainly something I thought would be right up my alley and I was absolutely right about it. Sister Holiday is a flawed but intriguing main character, made all the better by the way she acknowledges and pushes through her past. Every character felt so purposefully placed in their roles and felt fleshed out so well, no matter what their purpose was, and even more than that, they were all equally unreliable to me (which I absolutely loved). My only (small) drawback with this book was the pacing. While it wasn't too bad, there were some moments that felt like they dragged and then it almost felt like we were thrust too fast into the ending, leaving me wanting more of what comes next. Though I believe this will be a series if I remember correctly so it's likely that will be resolved in the next book! Overall, this is a crazy, twisting and turning debut and I'm excited to have it officially on my bookshelf! (Don't forget to check content warnings!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Animal death

Moderate: Rape, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

moreadsnrambles's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. Overall I thought the book was enjoyable. The main issue for me was the pacing. I went in expecting a fast-paced mystery but that was not what I got. With the various flashbacks to Sister Holiday’s life before the order we get this really in-depth view of her life which was interesting at times but also really changed the pacing of the book. I also found myself wishing I knew a bit more of the side characters’ stories like we got Sister Holiday’s. I did love some of the commentary on the patriarchal issues of the Catholic Church and some of the MC’s comments about her perception of religion and God. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexism and Homophobia