Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

25 reviews

reading_rainbow_with_chris's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

 

“A Children’s Bible” by Lydia Millet

A group of children and teenagers are frustrated by their parents, holed up in a shared vacation home where the parents act without care or responsibility. When a hurricane sweeps through and begins what appears to be the end of the world, the children take fate into their own hands guided by the prophecies of a child’s bible. I deeply enjoyed Millet’s writing style, especially the mostly consistent use of “we” and “they” as the primary pronouns. Although the narrative is from one teen’s point of view, the use of the collective reframes the story as a community narrative. I will admit that for the me the narrative point about the irresponsibility of past generations was a bit heavy handed at points, but I still felt that there were enough surprises in the story that I remained engaged despite catching the theme very early on. I listened to the audiobook and was compelled to keep listening, but the style of the book was such that I expect I would have been absolutely riveted reading it as well. I strongly recommend this novel. 

 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, and Blood

chaoticweevil's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Classism, Pregnancy, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Adult/minor relationship

literarylion's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Pros:

• All-around well-crafted
• Interesting take on climate disaster
• Strong character development and establishment of POV 

Cons:

• A bit derivative of other authors and stories (general dystopia)
• I had trouble orienting myself in the setting for the first quarter or so
• Felt rushed towards the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Cursing, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Pregnancy

shaziareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, and Drug use

lain_darko's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Medical content and Ableism

taylor_annotates's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Drug use and Sexual content

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Animal death

Minor: Sexual content

jen_again's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Infidelity

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Homophobia

kallan's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Alcoholism

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Eating disorder, and Sexual content