Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

18 reviews

kvanderheyden's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Good but could have been better. The author had too many ideas going on toward the end that were not explained. The ending seemed rushed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Sexism, and Gore

sarah984's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

5.0

I really liked this book - the history is interesting and the characters are well drawn. I didn't think the horror was that scary and a few parts were a bit silly to me but overall this is a great story about family, revenge, and the meaning of forgiveness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Grief, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Child death, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Misogyny

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I knew going in that this was horror and historical. And yet the opening was still startling, and the slowly developing creeping dread was amazingly well done. I greatly appreciate that the majority of shitty things that could happen were alluded to, and not put on the page. 

This was hard going at times, not least because there are so many things that can go wrong for people living alone with limited resources in winters with much snow, and the 'how will the character(s) get through this' was exhausting. 

The story is incredibly complex, nuanced and layered, and I appreciated it all the more as each layer was revealed. The characters are amazing, the worldbuilding jumps off the page, the writing is sparse and yet lush, and the pacing is exquisite. Highly recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, and Racial slurs

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail

minervacerridwen's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

"Lone Women" is a masterful take on the old theme of "Who is the real monster here?". I loved the writing style, which kept me rushing through the pages far past my bedtime. Those short chapters are dangerously tempting!
While the first half left me a little underwhelmed and thinking it would all play out rather predictably, it turned out to be the setup for some brilliant storytelling and interesting twists.

I loved the ending, and not only because Elizabeth was actually named a dragon after all the hints!

I even learned some history.

I was happy that the book club suggested this book because I must admit this would never have been on my radar otherwise, as a western horror story isn't something I would naturally gravitate towards. I'm afraid that is also the reason why I personally can't give this a higher rating: it was a lot to stomach sometimes, and not a book I think I'll easily reread myself. In some parts, it became too real for me to work as a relaxing read. I definitely think the book club discussion will be interesting, as the reader is left with a lot of food for thought.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Ableism, Confinement, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Homophobia

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.0

I am a little disappointed with this book. I was really looking forward to it, but it didn't live up to my expectations. That being said, I still think it's a good read. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator does a very good job.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, and Confinement

Minor: Child death, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

tigger89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

If you don't already know the details of what this is about, do yourself a favor and don't read too many reviews. I'm going to do my best to keep it vague here, but some of the others I've seen have been careless. This is definitely one of those books that benefits from the reader not knowing what to anticipate. All you really need to know about the plot is that this book is about family, secrets, and community.

I loved the way the novel approached the themes of family, both born and found. I also loved the atmosphere and historical context of this book. I had no idea that lone women were a real thing that had happened in US history, let alone that the opportunity had been available to Black women! The novel acknowledges, but doesn't spend much time grappling with, the colonization taking place. If there's anywhere it falls short it's in that respect. The ending rings a bit hollow when you remember that it's taking place not just on stolen land but on newly stolen land, with homesteaders who took direct advantage of the theft. I feel like if the author was going to bring it up then it needed to be better resolved, rather than just left hanging with a "well it is what it is."

Horror elements, while present, are fairly light. I was never afraid while reading this. There's some bloody scenes, along the lines of Carrie in terms of content, though written far less viscerally than King's style. Check content warnings or sample chapters if you're concerned.

Does the horse die? There are many horses owned by a variety of characters, including the protagonist.

Several background character horses die over the course of the story. The protagonist's horse is the only horse we get to know that dies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Deadnaming, Outing, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

There are multiple scenes involving vigilante justice with parallels drawn to lynch mobs.

peachani's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Dysphoria, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Deadnaming, and Confinement

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Racism, and Transphobia

dogearedbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Slavery, War, Sexism, Child death, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Racism