Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller

19 reviews

night_shift's review

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a lot of fun and it's weird how such an implausible situation had me thinking 'yeah, that tracks'.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Blood, and Alcohol

llams's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

amaranth_wytch's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Car accident

shrikebait's review

funny sad tense fast-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

The Z Word was a lot of fun! This is definitely a character-driven story, with no shortage of queer drama. I appreciate that the antics add levity while revealing each character's quirks and hidden insecurities. I also love the serious critiques of rainbow capitalism compounded by zombie horror. 

With that focus in mind, I see this as more "queer horror" than "zombie horror." Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of zombies complete with guts and gore. I was just more invested in the characters' messy relationships and ethical dilemmas than in the undead. 

Thank you to Quirk Books for the chance to check this book out through a giveaway! I'm leaving this review of my own accord

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

ishymuu's review

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

 When I first started this book, I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I am glad I stuck with it. The book is your zombie horror romp from the 2000s but make it involve queer community and pride. If you like that genre, you will enjoy this book. I like the slight changes made for the zombies all while keeping them pretty classic and loved the character and all their flaws. They are all messes, but in a way that is real for lots of folks. I wouldn’t say it is a life changing story, but it was definitely a fun zombie thriller! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Car accident

Minor: Fatphobia and Vomit

caffeinatedfae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.5

When I saw this book offered up on Libro.fm's influencer section I knew I needed it. This book was dark, grotesque and absolutely hilarious at moments. This is surprisingly realistic in a way and I loved seeing how the character grew together. It was a fun read that I highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia and Homophobia

theangrystackrat's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Who doesn't want to read a queer horror zombie novel, during Pride no less. This was an excellent story of queer people just trying to exist and celebrate their lives when a suspicious zombie plague starts harshing the vibe. I went into this expecting camp and glittery machetes but this actually packed a powerful emotional punch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

adventurous tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

A wild action-filled romp with messy queer drama and critique of rainbow capitalism. A good balance of lightness and seriousness for the sort of story that it is. I also think that the mixing in of other POV and the chapters from the past added to it. I really enjoyed it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Hate crime and Transphobia

Minor: Pregnancy

Face biting - unsure if it qualifies for the cannibalism tag. No one is explicitly pregnant, but there is a bit of a pregnancy scare that spans the book that is mentioned, but it's the day after/getting plan b. Also, someone uses a racial slur but they don't have it on the page, so I tagged racism rather than the slur.

jamesfitz3's review

dark emotional sad fast-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

3.75

Liked this book way more than I expected. I couldn’t tell by the synopsis if it was going to be relatable or cringe, and I’m happy to say it landed firmly in relatable. I expected a silly apocalyptic horror and was not expecting a scathing denouncement of corporate pride. I’m thrilled it was the latter. A little Unsubtle with what it was saying but everyone can use the reminder this June that corporations and cops don’t care about us. 


Eta: ok after reading some other reviews maybe it somehow needed to be even less subtle??? Boy howdy some of y’all missed the point

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Alcohol