Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

8 reviews

toofondofbooks_'s review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is short but it packed a huge gut punch for me. I couldn't read it at night because I would get too upset and overwhelmed by the detail and sheer horror of everything that was happening, but I still really liked it. The writing was immersive and gorgeous, made even better by listening to the audiobook while I read along physically. I usually hate romantic subplots in thrillers and horror, but I honestly thought that the one happening here was believable and I was rooting for it. The only thing that gives me pause is that I wanted a little more from this ending and there are some things that I would like clarification on re: the supernatural element. In some ways, I totally get why it ended the way it did and why I won't get that clarification, but it would still be nice to have it not end so abruptly and to have some answers. Overall, this was a good one. Authors using horror to address real life issues are one of my favorite types of authors to read so I will definitely look out for more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Police brutality, and Alcohol

herelieshenry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

this is one of the best novels I’ve read in a damn long time. people complaining that it isn’t “horror enough” baffle me; horror as a genre has always had room for discussing and showing the horrors within society and in history. I don’t know why so many reviewers seem confused that a plantation wedding horror novel is rooted in discussing the grotesque history of the plantation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Alcohol

thiszetasajerk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I didn’t like how the ending played out. I felt like it was unfair that the black woman was the one who was truly subjected to the whores of slavery. Meanwhile, the white people who, needed to do the most learning, got off easy. I don’t like that  most  of the gruesome details were done to the African-American characters, and when it came time for the white characters to experience death, all but one, was relatively quick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kaerene's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Another TikTok recommendation that lives up to the hype. It has everything thing: horror, ghosts, and multiple deaths at a wedding on an old plantation home. Once you get halfway through, you will be unable to stop reading as you are taken on a wild journey not knowing what is a vision and what is real. This is a really heavy read so be sure to check content warnings as these characters go through a lot in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

vigil's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

this book held my attention as i read it, but once i put it down, i had little inclination to pick it up again. 

i enjoyed the story, though if you’re looking for a fresh ghost story with twists and turns, this isn’t it. it’s a very classic revenge story and i think it’s strength lies more in it’s themes and how unflinching the author is in her criticism of racism, plantations, and how everyone can play into white supremacy, maliciously or not. my favorite portion of the book is towards the ending

where mira lives through the eyes of one of the slaves, and it uncovers just how horrific slavery really was, and how horrific everyone in the present is for ignoring and exploiting it.

it didn’t quite stick the landing though in my opinion. the latter portion of the book is rather unclear, making it hard to distinguish what fact from fiction and how did some of the more shocking events happen or didn’t happen. this vagueness isn’t bad in and of itself, but it makes the ending even more egregious. all the vague hallucinatory vibes disappear and the book is over because the protagonist literally says it’s over, not because anything is really done. i don’t need the protagonists to stick around and clean up the mess made by racist whites, but what about everything else? it felt like author thought she got her message across sufficiently and forgot about the story. the message it sends is good, but as a book it’s just okay.

also. i found celine’s character to be personally uncomfortable to me as a black person (but all too familiar) but i found the “poor girl dares to try to escape and gets put down like a dog by her partner” portion of the book to be rather distasteful. also a copout, no white person in this book has to personally reckon with anything. they’re either nameless racists, or end up dead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

singalana's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

 

I’m feeling conflicted about this book. I wanted to like it more, but it fell a bit short for me. The premise is interesting and important: the main character is invited to her childhood friend’s wedding. The wedding is held at a renovated plantation that has a dark history of slavery. 

The book starts slowly, exploring the childhood of our two main characters: Mira and Jesse, and their friend Celine, whose wedding they are now invited to. We get an account of the events that led to Jesse being ostracized and them drifting apart. The events really kick off at the end of the book, when the story turns chilling.

The book explores an important topic of slavery and how that history still affects the lives of black people today. There are some disturbing depictions of what happened to the slaves. Unfortunately, for me, the events got a bit confusing towards the end and I couldn’t keep up with why people did what they did. I wish Mira and Jesse could have been a bit stronger characters, and the relationship between them felt slightly forced.

In conclusion, the topic is extremely important, the main theme of the book was great and the “american gothic” atmosphere was well executed. With a better characterization and a little more thought to the ending this could have been an excellent book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Alcohol

mfrisk's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This read was a good mixture of social commentary and supernatural horror. It discussed the complexities of growing up in an area which still holds onto its segregated and racist history and even makes an attraction out of a plantation which has seen atrocities which we see recreated by the ghosts who still are haunted by what they saw and experienced. It discusses poverty, racism, friendship, and the need to feel you’ve moved up. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars is I think it could have incorporated the elements of horror earlier on in the book. There was a lot of background given on our characters and setting which was helpful but I think didn’t allow us as much time to get into some of the story elements and delve deeper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Toxic friendship

_egg_wash's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Alcohol