Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Free People's Village by Sim Kern

35 reviews

luckypansy's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

kchamp's review against another edition

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

2.0

This book is so fucking depressing. It kind of almost redeems itself in the last 5-10 pages? But honestly this felt like a novel that did not need to be written. What is the intention of telling this made up story, with an “alternate future” that’s so obviously parallel to our own that it hardly counts as speculative? It feels lazy. What is the intended purpose of telling this story from Maddie’s perspective? Her character is so underdeveloped, flimsy, annoying, and hard to empathize with. She’s a hollow character with no defining personality trait other than “shame,” and even that feels under explored?

And oh god, don’t get me started on Red and the romantic subplot. Maddie just hops from toxic relationship to toxic relationship and it’s boring. And there was not a single moment of this book that convinced me that Red was “charming.”

I did not give a shit about Red or Maddie, and it infuriated me to have to trudge through their story for the scraps of what was actually compelling in this book. I want books about hope, not just in the last 5 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Death, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Addiction

mxfahrenheit's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Police brutality, Vomit, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Rape

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Colonisation, and Deadnaming

Minor: Body shaming, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

roaming_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I first heard about this book on TikTok and Instagram from the author themselves and I wanted to pick it up. I am a big fan of Sim Kerns's social media posts and wanted to see if I would be a fan of their writing as well. Turns out I definitely am. This novel is set in an alternate USA timeline, during which Al Gore won the 2000 election and instead of a War on Terror, we were set on the War on Climate Change. It's something that sounds like a utopia, when in actuality, there are so many systemic issues that are masked by "saving the planet". Maddie as a main character was a great one to lead readers through, because her self discovery and learning journey felt reflective of what many people went through in 2020 during the BLM protests after the murders of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor. I did think that the commentary on systemic racism was a bit surface level. I saw another review that called it "entry level" for white people, and I have to agree with it. I enjoyed the discussions on transness and gender identity in the book and thought that the cast of characters was extremely diverse. They were fleshed-out so much that I would love a novel from each person's perspective. This book is enjoyable and really makes you think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Slavery

alicia_ann_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

This is such an excellent book. Especially as a white woman learning activism, and being an ally. 

This book parallels the human rights and political struggles we face today, and takes a real look at the ripple effect your actions can have, both positive and negative. 

The characters are all flawed, just as we are in life, and they don't win every battle, but through this story you can take away a little piece of hope. 

TW: Drugs and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, racism, death of a loved one, incarceration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

alienskiesabove's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Alcoholism, Drug use, Rape, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Blood

free_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring 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

 The Free People’s Village is set in an alternate timeline where Al Gore wins the 2000 presidential election, and the War on Terrorism is replaced with the War on Climate Change. Throughout this book, you follow a group of characters who are trying to same a party venue from being destroyed by the government building a new hyperway. It’s very Empire Records vibes.
This book was so good, for what it tries to do. If you are curious about how this timeline would relate to reality, this is a fun illustration of that. It’s interesting to see how things aren’t so different, since a lot of society’s problems are systemic.
I really enjoyed the parallels that Sim pulls between their timeline and reality. You would think that with a War on Climate Change, the US would be a utopia, but of course, capitalism exists, so we can’t have nice things. And the ending, perfect for each character. If you are looking to read about a revolution, this right here should be your jam.
The only reason I couldn’t give this book a 5 out of 5 stars, is the narrator, Maddie Ryan, so really annoying. She’s meant to be a way to view and learn about all the intricacies of social justice, but it comes off like she’s never left her house in her life. Maddie’s naivety makes the book come off a kind of preachy. The story arc does make sense for her character, but if this book was told from a 3rd person perspective, I wouldn’t have missed her at all.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcoholism

adrienneh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

4.5

I really appreciated the theme of finding hope even in the face of ongoing struggle and I could see a lot of myself and loved ones in these characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, Grief, Police brutality, War, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Rape, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Physical abuse, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

katcool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, and Police brutality

Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual assault, War, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape