Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift

11 reviews

fictionalsarah's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Addiction, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Vomit, Excrement, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

zoe_werdy's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I picked this up knowing nothing about it with quite low expectations and was absolutely blown away. This book was tragic, dark and harrowing but also genuinely funny and relatable, with twists in the plot I didn't see coming. I would definitely recommend but be prepared for some very vivid descriptions of death and decay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Grief

findingthefantasticstory's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I have just finished the audiobook and I loved it.

I think this is a definite book to listen to. To story is told through recordingd mad by the main character. The narrator brings so much more emotion to the book. There's scenes where you really feel all the emotions and you are there with the main character hoping she get through everything. This makes the listening to the audiobook very emotional, there were times where I wanted to cry on the bus.

I would really recommend this to anyone who wants a different take on a distopian.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

If you are a fan of dogs be careful, I got very emotional.

essjay's review against another edition

emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I never would have picked this up based on the title and cover, both of which I feel do this book a disservice in getting it into the hands of people who will appreciate it. 

I don’t even really know how to talk about this, but I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Addiction, Grief, Drug abuse, Excrement, Abandonment, Blood, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Death, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

max63815's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, and Infidelity

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

Minor: Xenophobia, Gun violence, Bullying, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Animal cruelty

lauren_may's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pregnancy

sopranoreader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Murder, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Alcohol, Excrement, and Miscarriage

chia_ie's review against another edition

dark funny reflective fast-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

5.0

this book was amazing. i loved it so so much. HOWEVER some parts were definitely hard to read, and i don’t know if i would’ve picked this book up if i was aware of the amount of gore in it.

there are some really distressing (and detailed) scenes including both animals and humans. the story being set in 2023 is also anxiety inducing, as we are still living through a pandemic. the idea of another one so soon, and it being more severe, is scary. 

i really enjoyed the main character. she felt very human. some people pointed out some inconsistencies in her character and the plot itself, but honestly if i ever did question anything, it was never significant enough to spoil the book for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Vomit, Addiction, Death of parent, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Body horror, Gore, Animal death, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Car accident, and Infertility

sabrielsbell's review against another edition

emotional 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

1.0

The premise of this book seemed right up my alley.  I love a good dystopian/survival story.  However, I just could not get into this book and DNFd at 65%. I struggled with 3 main components.  The first is the main character who is incredibly unlikable.  She has no survival skills, treats animal pretty poorly, and is all around unrelatable even with her struggles with anxiety and depression.  Since everyone is presumably dead, she is the only point of view you get and the only character you really spend time with aside from her best friend and her husband who are also both meh.  Secondly, there is really nothing to the plot.  Its a mix of the main character driving, drinking, and thinking about her past life with a few big moments thrown in. At the beginning it is clear that the main character is not capable of surviving on her own and I figured we'd spend the book watching her learn the hard way.  There are very few moments like that. Instead she keeps randomly finding food, water, and shelter with little trouble and most of the book is her staying in hotels and drinking or doing mundane life things.....just alone. Lastly, I struggled with the lack of research and logic.  At one point she says she sees a car every hundred miles or so (England is not that many hundred miles long anyway?) and then she says she went from London to like NorthHampton which is only 62 miles away. She also talks about snow being up to her thighs and then the next day it has completely melted and the grass is green.  It just doesn't make sense.  There seemed to be no research done into how bodies decompose or how long electricity would last without people.  All in all it was a very frustrating book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

bookmarkonthewall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

It’s November 2023. A new deadly virus, 6DM (6 days maximum before your body disintegrates and destroys itself) has wiped out humanity except for one woman who against all odds is alive. Alone in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world on planet Earth, we learn about the life this woman had - her relationships with her family, friends and husband, to her work and lifestyle - which wasn’t a happy life but full of compromises and meeting other people’s expectations of who she should and is supposed to be in life. In a world where she is the only one left, who will she become?

💭Don’t let this pretty pink covered book fool you! This is a terrifying, devastating, funny and uplifting book all at the same time - it’s a real rollercoaster of emotions along the way. Even though dystopian novels / films really creep me out, I’m strangely fascinated by them and the creation of potential new worlds of, in short, horror. 

So Clift wrote this book before Covid-19 happened but has tailored the content to align with its release during Covid-19, which I think intensifies the backdrop of this book, which is only a couple of years ahead. It works and it feels v realistic, and makes the notion of human kind being wiped out even more chilling. But the focus of the book isn’t about the pandemic and the after-effects of that (I mean there are obviously scary vivid details on death, rotting human corpses, rats and maggots..) but on this one woman who is alive. 

I love that the only remnant of survival of the human race is a woman! She has no name but we get to know all about her past life and who she was, but it’s clear she wasn’t happy. So we follow her journey in the new world where she can do, act, think, feel, however she wants. Though she’s not a Will Smith I am Legend character who is ready to fend off all the bad things in a post-apocalyptic world. She is one of us. And she gets drunk and gets high staying in the most luxurious hotel and eating food from Harrods to numb the pain of losing loved ones and not deal with reality. Through these stories, it provides a sense of fun and humour to the bleak and dark situation, and you go along with it. 

Through this woman we get to see her flaws and vulnerability but we also see strength and resilience, someone who has a will to survive too. We learn a lot about love, and what friends, families and lovers can mean to us. This book covers so many different themes - astounded by the expansiveness of this book!

And without revealing any spoilers, the ending has left me screaming!! I almost thought my copy was missing a few pages! I think we need a sequel...

⚖️ Great read if you want a mix of dystopian, feminist, character driven fiction. Highly recommend! Can someone read it soon so I can chat about the ending please?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts