Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

38 reviews

books_hay's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Young adult book, good with a lot of twists and family drama.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

whatamidoing_rn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

3.0

I liked it but it really dragged for the first half.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Gun violence, Dementia, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Death, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Incest, Addiction, Death of parent, Child death, and Alcohol

kjwit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I read this book for reading olympics and I really enjoyed it. It was one of my quicker reads recently and I found it enjoyable. Some of the mysteries the reader was given the clues to figure out themselves while other secrets you have to read to the end to find out. It had a good message and the three main characters went through incredible development  in their relationships with themselves and each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content and Miscarriage

jadeandherbunny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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? Yes

2.5

McManus does the same thing over and over again
Same characters, same narrative scheme as her other books
I won't read any of her books again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder

Minor: Incest and Abandonment

i_love_fob's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Car accident, Death, Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism

matonnhermann's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Grief, Blood, Cursing, and Dementia

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Dementia, and Panic attacks/disorders

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

slow-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? No

4.0

This book started slow, and even the shifting between the viewpoints of the three cousins didn't really help with that. It did do good things for filling in a range of background, as well as setting up a number of details that didn't become relevant until much later. 

It wasn't until the first major twist, at something like a quarter or a third through, where I started getting invested. I have some spoilery thoughts about the twists and turns of this story, so I've put that below. 

For all that I found this slow paced, according to the reading app it too me an hour (across multiple commutes) to finish, which seems much shorter than I would have assumed. 

I loved that most of the twists  had to do with identity. And that the various people all had such interesting ways of interlacing their two selves. There are definitely some parallels that can be drawn between being a Story (or pretending not to be) and pretending to be a Story. 

I was frustrated by the inevitable confrontation followed by risk to life and limb, but eh, I accept that that is a trope of the genre. It is just one of the things that make me not love the murder mystery genre.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Miscarriage, Addiction, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Dementia

ashleysager's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Child death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Death, Abandonment, Abortion, and Car accident

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

bubblepricks's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A bit corny but a good, fast read. A tad predictable, but has some pretty satisfying twists as well. 

Anybody names Anders is automatically a bad dude- I don’t make the rules 🤷🏻‍♀️ 
<spoiler/>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Incest

a_r_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcohol