Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Guest by Emma Cline

32 reviews

smalika's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

careening towards nothing. aimless, much like the narrator’s life, so i think the goal was achieved. i finished it, though, so i can’t say i didn’t enjoy something about it, but i wouldn’t reread and probably wouldn’t recommend unless you like following a character in making decisions you probably wouldn’t make, but not experience much of a conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug abuse

lay_kone's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug abuse

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness

emm_ugh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

caroisreading's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This is like a Gen Z version of Homer's Odyssey, where we follow a woman named Alex in her 20s through a series of missteps and a troubled cast of strangers, each with their own trauma or threats. Over the course of a few days, she is trying to get back to her boyfriend / sugar daddy, with no transportation or phone or money.

I was stressed reading this, and truly despised everyone in this book. There were out-of-character moments when Emma Cline wrote really thought-provoking commentary on elitism, relationships, abuse and sexism, but they were moments of clarity detached from the mess that was Alex, stumbling through her journey with pain killers, booze, sex and fear. She's running from an abusive man wanting his money back, while running towards her "safest" option, another man who has money, a vicious cycle. 

There were lots of references to Alex thinking she was a ghost, as she moved through life as an accessory, never spoken to, and quite literally looked through. She survived by playing these strangers, by blending in, and appealing to them with sex and pleasant company. Race wasn't a factor in this, and I assumed she and everyone around her were white (lots of "blond hair," "Germanic" descriptions), so this made her deception even more frictionless as she entered these social circles. 

I closed this book and was like, yep, got it, I'm depressed and slightly annoyed. And I've been here before with other "messed up pretty girl" narratives.

This is worth a read if you want something darker, grimy, reflective of today's imbalanced relationships and wealth disparity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

carmina_r's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction

spencerssnow's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse

amandab0514's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

danajoy's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This is one of those books were nothing really happens. In fact it ends right before what you would imagine the climax to be. The protagonist is aloof, unlikeable, self destructive and completely self-serving. 
It's unsatisfying, uninteresting and meandering but some people really like this sort of slice of life story with a problematic, sad girl protagonist. 

The relationship with a minor in particular left a sour taste in my mouth. 

I put it on my 24 in 2024 list which was the main reason I didn't just DNF. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, Addiction, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

This is one of those nothing happens, just vibes, kind of books. The main character, Alex, is insufferable and still pretty unknown to the reader by the end. I didn't like any of the supporting characters either. It doesn't have a dramatic climax. There is a long build to an event that gets abuptly cut off without any clear payoff.

drowsyowl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Trafficking

gvillasenor19's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Addiction, Cursing, and Drug use