Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Þernan

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Þernan by Nita Prose

275 reviews

mariposa517's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

Content Warnings

smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-

I really don't like mysteries. It's one of my least favorite genres. I'm bad at figuring them out and they always make me feel stupid. I literally only read this because I want to complete all of the prompts for the GoodReads Reading Challenge this year, and this was the only one in the mystery category prompt to already be labeled as to-read for me, so I picked it. And I only wanted to read it because the premise sounded interesting. And did it deliver? Eh?

It was fast-paced and digestible enough, which I appreciated. It had a lot of good twists and turns, and while I did predict some things, there were still other things that completely surprised me. Including the ending. I liked how the protagonist had a friend who was a girl and not just jealous, and every autistic person needs that one neurotypical friend who helps them understand things.

I think my biggest issues were the characters. Because of the nature of the genre, characters in a lot of mystery stories aren't very well-thought out and aren't expanded on. They have enough personality to make you root for them, and they're serviceable, but that's all they are. Very simple. And a lot of my particular annoyance came from the protagonist. An autistic maid who gets under suspicion because of her behavior is a really interesting and relatable idea, which is what made me want to read this book to begin with. But I didn't really vibe with her.

Sometimes, she was relatable, such as her daydreams of over-the-top violence to people who wronged her, or having a misunderstanding of social cues and how things worked. Most of the time, however, she annoyed me with her very literal mind and strange behavior. Girl, I know your grandmother is dying, but your boyfriend stole all of your money and left you both penniless. I don't care how bad of a day someone is having, they need to know about emergencies like that that affect their lives. She came across as a very stereotypical autistic girl and that was something I couldn't relate to. I know the author herself isn't autistic but to be honest, that doesn't bother me. I can't even relate to neurodivergent and autistic writers writing autism because I have a really specific form people can't get right. So that doesn't bother me. And there are a lot of stereotypical autistic people. I know people who act like this. I still found her really annoying and didn't really enjoy being in her head because I find it frustrating when people are always extremely literal and can't take jokes the way she does. She's not wholly a stereotype, for example, she does enjoy physical contact, which was a pleasant surprise to see, but still.

I didn't hate this book. Most of my issues came from the genre, where it suffered from a fast pace and one-note characters, and the protagonist herself, who was very annoying to me. I feel maybe if I read more mysteries, I would've been much more forgiving of the choices used in this book. As is, I'm glad this is the only one I had to read for the challenge so I can put it from my mind.

Content Warnings

isreadingcalmly's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I bought the book last year and it took me a year to pick it up again huhu because it's pretty slow, however things got a lot better once I got to 60% of the book!

its when molly got arrested

I started to get excited and did not put the book down at all, read it in ago lol

I love Mr. Preston, Charlotte and our boiii Juan Manuel so much 🥺💜 so precious found family feels!

And the one got me shook is the ending, 2 plot twists jfjdjdjd

Gran made Molly promised to help her 'go', and when I thought Mr.Black murdered by Giselle but its actually first Mrs. Black holy shoessss

Oh waiiit another thing,

is Mr. Preston actually Molly's grandfather???? Hdhsjsjsj

😭😭😭😭 Argh even though the first half of this book is super slow for me, but the other half is soo soooo good I love it. I'm so surprised the writing seems so different for the last part of the book wow.

Content Warnings

lunep's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I wanted to give up in the first half ngl. I don't want to be unking towards Molly but I can't lie, it was frustrating reading her come to the wrong conclusions every. Single. Time. Molly reads as autistic (which is why I dont want to be rude) but...in a very stereotypical way that feels a little weird (likewise with

making your undocummented mexican immigrant character be forced to work in a drug trafficking operation...

).
I genuinely had to detach myself a little from the book bc I tend to get really anxious for the characters and I really wanted to finish it.
It got better after the 55% mark

when Molly gets arrested and Mr. Preston, Charlotte and Juan Manuel start to help her. I really loved the way they became a little found family 🥺🥺🥺 ("found", really, bc who do you think you're decieving Mr. Preston?)

. I also was genuinely surprised by the two plot-twists at the end, and I really liked the ending in general, tho it also felt a little unrealistic, but I dont know US laws (or UK? It was never super clear to me where the book was set). Will I continue the series tho? I don't think so.

Content Warnings

tayreads10's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad slow-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

This book definitely has more of a cozy mystery feel. Molly is a woman who sees life differently than other people. She has struggled her whole life to understand social cues and facial expressions. Her grandmother, who cared for her since she was little, recently passed away, so life without her help is an adjustment. It's hard to read how things so easily passed under her radar throughout the book, but Molly's character really was built well. Ups and downs and the occasional twist definitely kept me intrigued.

Content Warnings

krandelzhofer's review against another edition

3.5

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A light read with loveable characters. Kind of reminded me of Fredrick Backman with how an eclectic group of characters come together when they most need companionship. It wasn't a thrilling read but more of a cozy mystery. There was a twist at the end.

Content Warnings