Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen

7 reviews

purplepenning's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Such a great balance of classic gumshoe mystery, well-researched midcentury history, and skillful character development. Detective Andy Mills is finding his way, his community, and his calling — and I'm finding an arc of book 3 because these are some of the most satisfying mysteries I've read in a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Hate crime, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual content

blackmail, threat of outing via explicit photos

mrshays's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Misogyny, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Outing, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual content, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

beebeewin's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious fast-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

3.75

This was a fun, quick, and easy read! This novel was not life changing but it is an enjoyable mystery with LGBTQIA+ characters. I appreciate that Lev Rosen never shys away from the intense oppression and violence these characters would face, but also still provides vivid moments of joy and happiness. It was interesting to get more backstory for Evander Mills, but I do wish it had been a little deeper. I know it is a mystery primarily, but I also love all the characters and would have liked to get to know them all on a deeper level. I think compared to the first novel in this series this one gripped me less due to the lack of building up the secondar characters, like Rosen did with Lavendar House. I will still read the sequel and would recommend this book as a nice quick read for anyone looking for a mystery story or just some fun LGBTQIA+ characters and stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Violence

purrson's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Toxic friendship

Minor: Murder, Police brutality, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

laura_keoski's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Outing, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Violence and Racial slurs

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, War, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I really enjoyed it.  It was interesting to get a glimpse of the contradiction in serving during WWII.  The impression I have is that it wasn't completely free, of course, and the gay people serving must have worried their limited freedom would go back to what it had been before the war (or, realistically, be even worse, as the backlash always seems to be).  

As maybe an indication of how times had changed, I assumed Donna's killer cared about her because of her closed eyes and thought she must have been dumped in a place where people who cared that she had died would find her and honor her.   It didn't occur to me that it would be a way of shutting down the bar, though of course that makes perfect sense.

I'm sorry Sidney turned out to be the killer.  I liked him.  I liked that he was able to live with his husband and thought Mills being on a retainer in a hotel had some interesting possibilities for future stories.

I loved Lee, and I was glad to see things progressing with Gene.   I'm happy for Elise but hope we still get to see her next time.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Violence, and Police brutality

Minor: War and Racism

bookenbee's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Police brutality

Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, War, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Gun violence, Racism, Outing, Sexism, Medical content, Colonisation, Death, and Drug use