Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure

20 reviews

kwahl's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Sexism

Minor: Addiction

books_baking_brews's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

 Lescure really pulled something off here. I mean I just didn't like a single character. They were terrible to each other and the people they were supposed to be there for. They used each other and people in their paths so thoughtlessly. The worst by far was Sloan. They are all thwarted by missed opportunities and longing to feel special and to distinguish themselves as such; I don't think they ever knew contentment, and that sort of conniving, grasping nature is hard to read. But despite your dislike you keep reading because it's sorta like watching a train wreck and the backdrop is so interesting and by the end you think what just happened here. This book covers a lot: the undercurrents, or in some cases "over" currents, of how expats move to a country and use it and lay claim to it without ever really having to suffer for it, without ever truly loving it outside of what it can get for them; the impact of China's one-child policy and the "re-education" of urban youth policy--the so-called lost generation; the fetishizing of Asian women; and the idolization of Americanness. It's all in there plus more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

plasticpansy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

chrysos79's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Rape, Alcoholism, Child death, and Suicide

_inge's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This book gripped me from the second I started it. I really enjoyed the first half; Alva’s story was a great coming of age story, Lu Fang’s story felt less captivating to me, as it didn’t really tell me anything new and was too focused on whether he’d get into a relationship or not. Gradually Lu Fang’s character changed and his story therefore did get more interesting for a while. The writing is quite good too, though sometimes a bit too descriptive for me. Some words got repeated quite a lot too, like ‘squirt of sperm’ or ‘partner’, meaning those words lost their emotional meaning quickly. But still, I initially found this a captivating read. 

Unfortunately, about midway through both Alva and Lu Fang’s storylines got too bleak for me. In the first half there’d be hope for better times, but as both Lu Fang and Alva face traumatic experiences that hope got lost. At certain points it felt like the author was piling on misery to get the story to continue, even though what I’d enjoyed in the first half was the subtle frictions or discussions on identity. How Alva is perceived in her school environment was really interesting to read about, as was seeing how she perceived herself. This got lost in the traumatic events that unfolded in the second half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexism, Rape, Child death, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Racism, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Car accident, and Physical abuse

hegesteindal74's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, and Grief

amy_park's review against another edition

hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Read this via audio and I enjoyed it. A dual perspective novel of a coming of age, teenage American Chinese girl and her Chinese stepdad living in Shanghai. Many themes were explored in this book, I.e identity, hope, West vs East culture, "American dream", ambition vs reality etc. An interesting look on immigration and culture. 
Some may argue this book explores too many themes, which I agree slightly. I think this book packs alot in, with many areas brushed upon and not explored as much as I would like.
I enjoyed the Alva sections more but did like to hear the backstory of Lu Fang, but towards the end his sections were rushed alot, as I think the author wanted to include alot of the history in China in these sections, but didn't pay off due to length
This book has alot of content warnings, so would suggest a review if dark themes trigger.  Overall would recommend (especially audio).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, Self harm, Drug use, and Death

bonkyboot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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: Alcoholism, Suicide, Rape, Death, and Self harm

baileyanabella's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Not a bad book, just not really my favorite type of story. This is a portrait of two characters lives, a deep look at the intricacies of their personalities. But I didn't find them particularly interesting or relatable characters, so this unfortunately just didn't hit for me. The setting was interesting and not one I've seen much of before so I did have fun with that and it kept me intrigued when the story didn't. Overall just left me feeling sad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Animal death

kaddictwithapen's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Toxic friendship, Racism, Self harm, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, War, and Violence