Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

10 reviews

k_shimer's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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

5.0

One of my favorite books of all time. It’s the book that truly sparked my love of reading (as a child). Ellen Raskin truly wrote the perfect book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Suicide

Minor: Medical content, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Dementia, Alcoholism, Blood, and Death of parent

hedyharper's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, and Car accident

kwichris's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Ableism and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury

cristine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? No

4.5

Really enjoyed this and read it at a time I needed a good mystery and quick read. The character development was solid and I loved that the end of the book provided a look at the characters’ lives in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Death, Ableism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness

nota_candycaine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Ableism, Sexism, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Self harm and Suicide

chrisljm's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

 The premise sounded so intriguing to me at first, but I ended up not being invested in the story at all. I found it to have not enough story and the mystery a bit convoluted to follow along. 

 

Why was Angela even setting bombs? I understand why she made one for herself, but why did she bomb the two restaurants...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Sexism, and Murder

Minor: Violence, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Medical content, and Self harm

ellie_exists's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

kstericker's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Racism, and Ableism

readerette's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

I read this book when I was a kid, and when I saw it on a "recommended reads" list the other day, I couldn't resist. I don't remember much about the first time I read it (other than liking it), but I enjoyed it this time.

It's clever and the characters end up with a decent amount of depth for such a short story. I did figure out the mystery before the reveal, but that didn't detract from the fun of the book for me.

I was watching closely the actions toward the characters of color and characters with disabilities, but as far as I could tell, any racist/ableist remarks were discernible as such (as in, they showed that some of the white characters were racist, and others were ableist, which was the author's point with those characters). The r-word is used a few times.

I did find the whole setup just a little ridiculous, which is where my reduced rating comes from. There really did seem to be some intent to punish with the "game" that Westing created, and when I found out the initial intended victim of the punishment, I got confused because other context suggested they didn't deserve to be punished at all (including my understanding that Westing wouldn't have thought so either). Maybe I just missed something...

Definitely worth a read for anyone who enjoys relatively lighthearted mysteries where you slowly put together the clues with the characters.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Alcohol, Death, and Racism

elle_dee's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Car accident, Murder, Racism, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Self harm