Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King

14 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Generally don’t love short stories, but I like most of them, especially the one with the three boys spending the summer together. Really liked all the perspectives each story told.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Death, Abandonment, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

raisinreads's review against another edition

reflective

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

The last story by far held the most interest to me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

sestout's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Grief

mdavis26's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Classism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Car accident, Infidelity, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Death

bootsmom3's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Abortion

lidia7's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Rape

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Abortion and Suicide attempt

horourke's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.25

while I am generally a huge Lily King fan, I was disappointed with this short story collection. she is undoubtedly a talented writer, but aside from two standout stories (the titular “five tuesdays in winter” and “when in the dordogne”), the stories did not make an impact on me. I was especially off put by the inclusion of two stories in which the protagonist nurses a crush on another character, only for that crush to later sexually assault them. while the two stories were slightly thematically different, one dealing with a developing teenager and the other themes of queerness and homophobia, that same motif of sexual violence was disturbing to me.

the latter handful of the stories in the collection were quite short, around 10-15 pages each, and left me wanting more. I have the feeling that “Mansard” could’ve been great given a bit more plot to it. But overall, I found many of the stories to be quite forgettable. 

However, “five tuesdays in winter” was a lovely tale of found family, as was “when in the Dordogne.” I cried at both, filled with emotion at how King can so carefully craft emotions and settings. I found myself picturing the summer depicted “when in the Dordogne” as my own summer as an adolescent, marveling at the cool older kids who looked after my friends and I. she was able to capture the feeling of summer as a young person so well, and crafted a truly beautiful story about the people who enter our lives for a short period of time but have long lasting effects on who we are. 

While I’m overall a bit disappointed by this collection, it was worth a read for those two stories alone. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion

takarakei's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

I am not a big short story reader as I typically like to spend a whole book getting to know characters. However Lily King is one of my favorite authors so I had to give these a try. I certainly enjoyed some stories more than others. I like King’s writing style as she has a great ability to paint a scene and conjure nostalgia. I personally liked the titular story the most.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror and Abortion

I seriously recommend skipping the first story Creature if concerned about

graphic descriptions of SA. Hotel Seattle story also has SA/rape

sarahaf712's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Addiction, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Violence

sjanke2's review

lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent