Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

28 reviews

zany25's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I think this book might work best if you read it kinda fast because there are definitely some slowdown sections that might drag, but I found enjoyable anyways. To me this book is all vibes, gothic classist mean girl lesbian vampire vibes. Which I liked, I wouldn’t say the plot is terribly strong until the ending, but if you’re along for the ride it’s definitely easy to get pulled in.

Also I’ve drawn blood for work in the real world and their blood letting descriptions were pretty spot on, aside from the sprinkling of supernatural of course, I enjoyed how they described the veins and scarring as a nice realistic touch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Mental illness, Self harm, Incest, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Addiction

meowster18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.75

I really loved this book. It took me a few months to read it because of constant book slumps but when I was ready to read, hun, I flew through it. Amazing atmosphere. Amazing prose. Amazing characters. I gave it a 4.75 only because I felt the ending to be a bit lacking in my opinion. A bit flimsy. Other than that, great book. Would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Torture

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I really dug the vibes of this book, the Gothic splendor and creepiness. There is a lot of body horror, which might ick some people out but which I'm a fan of. The writing is seriously stunning; Henderson has a unique knack for creating and then committing to a setting. The language she used was so evocative and it was easy for me to slip into the world of the story. 

That said, a lot of this book felt built up around that setting but didn't sit on the same foundation. The characters were inconsistent, waffling between decisions constantly. There was barely a plot for the first 80% of the book, which I would have been fine with (I like character studies) but then it decided to have a plot at the very end, and not a good one. But probably the most egregious flaw to me was the wasted potential to make a commentary on anything from class, ambition, mutual obsession, or the way that power corrupts. Henderson chucks all of that possibility into the fire with the disappointing and half-baked ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

giulianalb99's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

Ehm… ¿qué acabo de leer? 
La verdad es que el libro como tal no está mal y la pluma de la autora es espectacular pero me ha dejado un poco sin más.

Tenía unas expectativas medias tirando a altas porque la sinopsis me pareció bastante buena, pero ha acabado siendo otro libro que seguramente acabe olvidando desgraciadamente. La idea principal que es básicamente cómo la nobleza se aprovecha de los más débiles bebiendo literalmente su sangre es genial pero, durante todo el libro, no pasa absolutamente nada salvo el proceso que va tomando la relación bastante tóxica entre la protagonista y Lisavet. Estaba en el 70% y todavía no pasaba nada hasta que en los últimos capítulos BOOM, y después me he quedado en plan “¿ya está?”. Leer tantas páginas de puro aburrimiento (que repito, la autora escribe súper bien) y relleno para llegar al final y que se resuelva todo tan rápido no me ha convencido del todo.
Lo que sí me ha gustado es cómo la autora ha plasmado (de manera digámoslo extraña) cómo los ricos obtienen y hacen lo que quieren mientras se aprovechan de los que no tienen tanto para vivir, así como las cosas tan raras que pueden llegar a hacer pagando infinitas sumas de dinero.

¿Recomendaría este libro? Sí, pero no creo que sea para todo el mundo ya que contiene sangre, tortura, horror, es bastante gore, abuso de sustancias tóxicas, relación tóxica, canibalismo, muerte, y un largo etcétera. Recomiendo leáis los trigger warnings antes de empezar el libro.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Murder, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

In lieu of the legendary Elizabeth Bathory, this book has some amazing atmosphere, the prose is emotionally-wrenching, the cast of characters (led by a strong female lead) are nothing short of fascinating, and the horror is corporeal to a tee. Seriously, it’s a great book about exploitation, imbalance in relationship dynamics, and what it truly means to escape more than one toxic situation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Addiction, Death, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Child abuse, Grief, Self harm, Trafficking, Alcohol, Drug use, Alcoholism, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Misogyny, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence

Be warned, there are scenes of moderately graphic lesbian sex, ageism, and how the system pits women against one another.

miraclesnow's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It was enjoyable to read but nothing I’ll obsess over. Some themes & ideas that got left behind should have been thrust more to the forefront. It would have made for more interesting subtext to the story. At it stands now it felt a little samey, but still makes for good fiction.

I also think the pacing was right, but I feel the most meh about the last 10 percent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Death, Gaslighting, and Addiction

Minor: Death of parent

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Body horror, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Bullying, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

m_lee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Vomit, Slavery, Torture, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Cursing, Incest, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia

lesseraliterary's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

mmmm am i a horror girlie now? idk but reading twilight in high school did something to my brain chemistry.. this was fun and super gay 😌 i loved the audiobook and honestly, i’d love more books in this universe bc it’s fucking wild my dudes 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Torture

Moderate: Body horror

bootsmom3's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Gore

Minor: Death of parent and Death