Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn

10 reviews

ninamitu's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Rape

dkamada's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

himpersonal's review

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This was interesting - almost like a reverse Handmaid’s Tale. Some might even say a feminist’s Utopia. Except of course it can’t be, because it’s built by flawed humans. There are forces who want to resist, and plenty more who want to ignore what is wrong because it’s inconvenient to question what feels like a good deal, especially when they are the chosen ones. Some might even say it feels a bit like it could be a prophetic metaphor for our current situation in the US.

This book might be a call to action for the woke who need to be further woken. As for those whom I call asleep (as in not woke), this book might just be a bit of science fiction that could someday make a good movie - with the right director. (Let’s take the red pill people, please!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

hflh's review against another edition

3.75

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Ok. I really enjoyed this book, BUT I think it will disappoint a lot of readers. 

It’s simple and on-the-nose (buzzwords included), has flat characters with a tidy plot, and you have to suspend some disbelief. If you’re looking for a nuanced, in-depth critique on climate, gender, capitalism, and white feminism — you’ll be disappointed. 

BUT sometimes you need just want to turn off your brain and jump in and this did that for me. There are some really interesting and fucked up elements in this dystopian world that kept me engaged and

the cartoonishly evil billionaire

was a good laugh.

I’d encourage readers to go in blind, but the villain reads like a

bossbabe trying to build a paradise created by J.K. Rowling and a beige mom

.

NOTE: while there’s lots of queer rep, one of the blurbs on the book says it’s found family but I don’t think this will scratch your found family itch.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Transphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Classism

Minor: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcohol

doxxing, forced pregnancy, overdose

k_shimer's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Classism

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Dysphoria

Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

lexyan's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I was skeptical early on reading this, but I ended up really liking it. It's a good takedown of gender essentialism set on the backdrop of early apocalypse-level climate change. There's heavy use of dramatic irony that works really well to keep you invested in reading it. All of the POV characters are well-written, including the perfectly hateable villain. The ending is hopeful but a little unsatisfying, which sort of feels perfect for the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Grief, Sexual harassment, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, War, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

mandi_lea's review against another edition

4.5

dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism

kestrel_of_the_pages's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This need to be on every #GirlBoss book shelf...

A lite scifi criticism of white femme power spaces, the danger of trans exclusion and generalization of gender, and how the future must be inclusive for humanity's survival. Dashes of romance, mystery, thriller, and corporate intrigue. The story switches perspectives between a handful of characters, each experiencing different facets of The Inside, over the time span between 2050-2078. There are some steamy sapphic moments, but mostly the romance element is slow burn.

It was refreshing to see a white author tackle these subjects with care, earnestness, and precision. This type of call-out should not always fall onto non-white, non-cis/het folks!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Transphobia, Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting

Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol

bootsmom3's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Dysphoria

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Alcohol

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

nukie19's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is a really thought-provoking look at a near-future world and how the goals of creating a community without the patriarchy is a more complex problem than it originally appears.  Korn does a good job of really breaking down the simplistic view from the billionaire funding the project - an older, wealthy, cis-hetero, white female - about how to create this reality by just eliminating men from the picture.  Touching on topics such as the gender spectrum, power imbalances, trans-rights, bodily autonomy, and more, this book probably isn't for everyone who isn't ready for that kind of political statement along with their speculative/climate fiction.  It can be at times a little simple and obvious with the themes, but overall I think it would make a great book club read to open discussions on these topics.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Lesbophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol