Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

One Last Stop: Der letzte Halt ist erst der Anfang by Casey McQuiston

118 reviews

lzzz004's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, and Grief

samchase112's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.75

I can't believe this book exists? It's the perfect found-family-lesbian-time-travel-romance-book. It's so easy to be swept into the world of these characters, of drag queens and late-night parties and cheap apartments and disgusting subway cars and time traveling activists. The best part is certainly August's character growth and the growth of the little family she finds herself thrown into -- Wes, I LOVE YOU -- so much so, that I think the romance was my least favorite part of this book? Somehow. What can I say, except I will read anything Casey McQuinston writes and probably love it to death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Police brutality

anniereads221's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Transphobia, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

nightfell's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? No

4.0

Read this if you want a fun, heartwarming romance about an awkward and endearing woman who falls in love with a hot lesbian who hasn't washed in 40+ years. Overall, I think it was a cute, sometimes deep, book. I liked the side characters and their friendships with each other, and how queer the book was. Jane's character was written well, however at times I found it tedious to hear so much about her past because over time she started to become one of those cool people who you admire but can't relate to, and for some of the book she didn't feel like a real person, compared to August. This also added to the stark difference between them, as she was at rockstar status, and August was just trying to survive, so that made it hard to ship them in the beginning. However, I liked how real Jane became as the book progressed, hearing about the harder parts of her life like her upbringing. They felt so much more in tune and I enjoyed their relationship overall. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, and Lesbophobia

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Hate crime, Racism, and Police brutality

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Vomit, and Stalking

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

Favourite quote [I’ve already returned the book to the library, so I’m pulling this quote from my memory. I apologize if it’s not exactly correct]: “that sucks, I’m your mom now. The rules are, no Tarantino movies and bed time is never”

I loved this! It was cute, heartwarming, romantic, spicy, and relatable. I’m so glad to see a book with good bi representation and diverse characters in general. 

I really think this should be tagged as Science Fiction because I definitely would have picked the book up sooner if I had known there was more than the rom-com plot!

Things I liked:

• Queer history woven into the story [Note: I recently saw a review that said this was inaccurately represented, so I’ll have to look into this further]
• Found family
• All the side characters
• All the rep
• Sci-fi 
• Sapphic spice
• Finally a Queer book that’s not about coming out

Some critiques:

I was frustrated that the issue of child abuse and mental illness was never properly addressed. It seems like August’s childhood was played off as shitty but ultimately forgivable based on the way she reconnected with her mom at the end. In my opinion, August’s mother was severely neglectful. On the other hand, her mother’s behaviour seemed to obviously stem from mental illness, but it was never treated as such in the book.

I know that a lot of people have taken issue with the “most people aren’t like that anymore” line and I agree that it’s shitty. However, my problem isn’t with the line itself, as I think it is something that August would say. My issue is the fact that the line is never brought up or addressed again. I think it could have been a good opportunity for August to learn and grow. 

Similarly, I’ve seen a lot of people express frustration with the fact that the narration did not start using Biyu instead of Jane at the end. While I think this would have been nice, I don’t think the author set it up well. The character said she was “thinking about” going by Biyu at the very end of the book. I would have preferred if this had been introduced a bit earlier so that there was time to explore it further and allow the character to more explicitly state her desire to be called Biyu. 

As much as I love a happy ending, I think the author wrapped this one up a bit too perfectly, to the point where it wasn’t believable. Too “happily ever after” for me

Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶.5/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death and Car accident

the_paperbackprincess's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Grief and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

Hate speech, semi-public sex

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

The book beautifully shows the contrast of queerness in the ‘70s and in 2020. There’s an impossible love story helped along the way by a stunning found family. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, and Lesbophobia

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol