Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

21 reviews

bo0ks_are_cool91's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

Holy shit Chloe gong knows how to write an ending. I had trouble getting through the first 30%, but everything picked up after Alisa is kidnapped. Would probably recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Colonisation, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

I felt like the plot in this one wasn’t as good as the first book, but the character development was spot on. It was emotional af, though. I couldn’t handle Ben’s chapters at all.  

Fantasy, Dark Romance, Taboo, 1 🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Cursing, Death, Grief, Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Police brutality, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Confinement, War, Alcohol, Murder, Gore, Genocide, and Colonisation

Minor: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Classism

ashbreadin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Death, and Child death

Moderate: War, Torture, Murder, Homophobia, Drug use, Violence, Alcohol, Suicide, Transphobia, and Death

linblythe_pub22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Blood

Moderate: Classism, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Death, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Colonisation, Cursing, and Alcohol

isitcertain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

better than shakespeare tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, and Genocide

Minor: Alcohol

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Violence

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, and Death

takarakei's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

I am honestly pretty apathetic about this series. I really really wanted to like these, but ultimately I really struggled to get through both books.

I did not like the writing style or pacing of these books. The way the story is written makes it hard to follow, and I found the writing to be repetitive and boring. I found myself having to constantly re-read paragraphs but at the same time not really caring about what I was reading. Ultimately I did not care for Juliette and Roma’s relationship. After finishing the first book I found myself wondering why it is I just didn’t seem to really *get* their relationship - supposedly this is enemies to lovers (which is my favorite trope btw) but beyond this giant familial rivalry which is described over and over again I honestly did not feel enough tension or hatred between them to build up and make me care about them ending up together. I did not find either Juliette or Roma to be very complex and therefore their relationship was not impactful. 

Throughout both books I was way more interested in the secondary characters: Benedikt and Marshall and Kathleen in particular. I found myself wishing for more time spent with these characters and their journey, struggles and development. To me, Kathleen is the real intriguing character of the series - she is way smarter, complex and ultimately I think more badass than Juliette. I would have rather been reading her story and POV solely. 

 

In both books the monsters that plague the city and the entire plot-line there did not really intrigue me. Even less so in Our Violent Ends since it’s an even smaller part of the second book, and seems very in the background of everything else going on politically in this world. 

 

Did I feel like the second book was better than the first? maybe a bit, but since it’s longer than the first book the pacing was even more of an issue for me. There were parts of the second book that I did enjoy reading but they were too far and fewer between (and were pretty much solely the parts from the secondary characters' POV). 

 

I pushed myself to finish the books because I did want to see how it ended, but I was left feeling unfulfilled. The “climax” of the story feels like it drags on for too long, and I kept thinking “ok is this IT yet?”

I honestly think that it would have been more impactful to not leave the ending open the way it is and stick more to the source of Romeo and Juliet dying - because in Shakespeare’s tragedy them dying is what teaches those around them that violence, power struggle and hatred between people are the evils that corrupt our world. They die for love and for each other, and without that the ending fell flat. Perhaps it is intentional that the author will continue the series and eventually bring these lessons around to this world and those living in it? but I likely won’t be reading on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Gun violence, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Minor: Colonisation

breedawnwriter's review against another edition

4.0

Um…

I have so many thoughts and feelings. I’ve never been more STRESSED about a book in my LIFE. 

I LOVED it.

I teared up.

I cursed.

I squealed.

I think I screeched. 

The ending felt kinda lackluster to me because I guess I expected it all to go down differently? Don’t ask me what I thought would happen because I don’t know, I just thought it would be different. 

I wanted it to make me sob uncontrollably. It did not, so I knocked off a star because I’m a cruel book dragon.

Please don’t come for me. I will not respond or engage with that kind of behavior.

I will probably update this review when I’ve had time to think more about the book.

Content warnings (from the author): Blood, violence, gore, character deaths, murder (including mass murder), war themes, torture, weapon use, insects, alcohol consumption, parental abuse.

Additional content warnings: passionate kissing (including a gay kiss), a sex scene (not graphic, mostly just describes them undressing and the guy asking “is this okay?” before the scene ends), and strong cursing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Gore, and Torture