Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi

11 reviews

jgarrin93's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.25

honestly, I wouldn't have finished reading this if it weren't the chosen novel for my book club. I've studied Pride and Prejudice retellings for a long time and this missed the mark by a long shot. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Eating disorder, Transphobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Self harm, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Cancer, Body shaming, and Addiction

bookwormbullet's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

katiethorburn21's review against another edition

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Body shaming, Addiction, Misogyny, and Drug abuse

ika92's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse

angietheace's review against another edition

reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Alcoholism, and Stalking

Minor: Drug abuse and Addiction

shector1's review

lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

demjin's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.0

 2 Stars in reality but it gets an extra star because I love to see black/asian/trans women thrive.

Pride & Prejudice is my favourite book but I'm not a stickler about adaptations and retellings. I don't need them to be wound super closely to the original story. This book started off hitting the same beats as the original P&P, but it veered off quite a lot towards the end, which I didn't hate but I also didn't love. However overall I think the story is pretty good.

My main issue is that there's a lack of conflict in this book. The characters face some struggles that come with finishing college and navigating relationships, but they were solved quite quickly. I felt like it only got really juicy at one point and I got really excited, but that was kind of it. And I think because of this it missed out on a lot of the tension and pining that makes P&P great. Will & EJ get together quite early on, which I wasn't a huge fan of, and it made the ending drag quite a lot for me.
(Also everyone does therapy, which doesn't help with the conflict thing, because unfortunately I like my characters a little unlikeable.)

The dialogue is also a little clunky and cartoonish but not unreadable, and there are A LOT of pop culture references (both real and made up). This doesn't bother me, but if you're someone who hates pop culture references then definitely skip this because there's at least 3 per page.

Overall I think this book is okay, it made me laugh and was quite cute at times! I also really appreciate having minorities centered in retellings, especially when their happiness rather than their trauma is the focus. I just also loved seeing a trans woman in a healthy straight relationship! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Fatphobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Car accident, Cancer, Self harm, Stalking, Misogyny, and Body shaming

kimi72714's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

I loved the romance of the book, I love the way the story was adapted, I love that the characters COMMUNICATED with each other, and I absolutely adored EJ. The friendships between the women were fantastic and that's everything I want out of a P+P retelling. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Self harm

Also unnecessary mentions of diets and calorie counting, and HP references (from a trans woman, of all characters). But many of the CWs are well placed and not out of the blue.

dorothysbookshelf's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

just wow. new comfort read unlocked. the best modern retelling of a classic novel that i have ever ever experienced. this book just feels like a warm hug. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Car accident, Cancer, and Death of parent

libbyhb's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

This was such a delight! Pride and Prejudice has been my favorite book since I was 11 or 12, so this appealed to me right away. Eden Appiah-Kubi's approach to modernizing the story is different than those I've seen in fanfiction or whatever, and I appreciated it. She didn't just make the same exact plot play out with modern settings and characters, she adjusted their dialogue and actions to make them make sense in 2021. So much of the way they interact would just never happen in this day and age - for example, if the Darcy character really is so close to his sister, it makes so much more sense for him to confide in her and consult her on his relationship worries than to just barrel through and approach the Elizabeth character badly. I also liked the diversity of the characters (by race, gender, etc) while still keeping the wealth/class disparity that made the original book so interesting. I think the only element that didn't fully work for me was in the writing itself, specifically in the word choices/sentence structure which at times didn't really keep me fully immersed in the world? It sometimes made me feel outside of the story, if that makes any sense. But overall, such a fun and interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug abuse