Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Wych Elm by Tana French

7 reviews

allynat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Bullying, Death, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

seadeepy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Blood, Ableism, Murder, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Hate crime, Cancer, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual assault, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, Drug use, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

corncake's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.75

Excellent characterization, but the pacing of this book is painfully slow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Cancer, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Self harm, Vomit, Misogyny, and Homophobia

surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

Thanks, I hated it.

Let me start with the one redeeming quality of this book, Tana French can write a damn house! Just like the home in The Likeness, I could picture the Ivy House perfectly! It was cozy (until it wasn’t) and atmospheric and just so vibrantly written. 

But that skill is not enough to save this book. Not only is every single character (except Hugo, whom I felt affection for and wanted to see more of) unlikeable, but our protagonist is the *most* unlikeable of the bunch. Seriously. Irredeemably so. I guessed the killer prior to the reveal, but that’s not saying a whole lot as this book is SLOW. And lastly, though frankly most importantly, this book is ableist and fatphobic as FUCK. Like, jarringly so. I felt like I was constantly being pulled out of the story because I was taken aback by the ableist comments. Bad bad bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug use, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Fatphobia

rileyreadsagain's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Dementia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Homophobia

Minor: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Drug use

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a rough go, with twists and turns that made me feel terrible for the dominos falling one after the other for Toby, the main character. Unreal at points, and suspenseful down to the last 20 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

madzsmiled's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pregnancy and Self harm