Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

60 reviews

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this book until about 4/5 of the way through, when it delved into

the details of Jane’s magic rituals and mathematical theories.

Until that point, the book thoroughly held my interest and the pacing felt well-suited to the plot. My interest really dipped during the 80-86% part of the book, but did gradually return after that.

The ending was layered, a bit surprising, and intriguing.

It wasn’t a true happy ending, but it was mostly hopeful.

I felt that the ending redeemed the book overall. The main characters and their relationship were compelling, and I found myself really rooting for them.  I especially loved that Jane’s autism is portrayed so lovingly and as the superpower that it is. There isn’t nearly enough autism representation in literature, and the horror genre is no exception, so Jane is a breath of fresh air. (Jane’s autism is alluded to—and not directly described, but the author confirmed this fact!)

I may not revisit this book, but I’d happily read more work from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Blood, Miscarriage, Gore, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Terminal illness, Self harm, Child death, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Vomit, War, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Sexual content

des_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Body horror

Minor: War

simone_elizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Oh the horror of loving and being loved!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Murder, Torture, Drug use, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Miscarriage

Moderate: War, Abandonment, and Confinement

flordemaga's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This took me a really long time to read by no fault of the book itself, I just literally physically lost the book for like a month.

I will say: at first it felt a bit too much like Crimson Peak, which I know was intentional, but I wanted more variety. And it took a bit too long to get to the action that felt like anything.
But I like the character of Jane Lawrence herself a lot. I like that she's autistic and just is. I also really like the descriptions of the gore and medical stuff and blood. Very visceral without being excessive, self-serving, or unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

natbrooke94's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Body horror, Drug use, and Gore

yellow_ylugbug's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Medical content, Gore, Drug use, and Body horror

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Miscarriage

emco_0's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child death, Blood, Miscarriage, Body horror, Confinement, and Death

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

draconicdetective's review against another edition

dark tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use and Death

Minor: Child death

lovesit1892's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

This book started out strong for me with a unique take on the classic gothic horror storyline--mysterious new husband, creepy old house, etc.--but by the ending I was frustrated with the writing. I don't think I've ever read a book with such redundant writing; there was so much text on the page that was repetitive, vague, and really said nothing at all. By the last five chapters I was losing interest, to the point where I considered not even reading past

Chapter Zero

because it did nothing to further the storyline. 

The characters were not really that engaging, and as the storyline and writing devolved that left nothing interesting for me. I would still give it 3 stars because I liked this take on gothic horror, it wasn't just the typical ghost story but it definitely could have been better fleshed out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use and Death

Minor: Vomit and Panic attacks/disorders

rtaire's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Blood, Gore, Medical content, and Body horror

Moderate: Gaslighting, Drug use, and Child death