Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

63 reviews

hailey_alexis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

eachz's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Pros: The way secrets were gradually revealed kept me very invested in the mystery / plot. I appreciated the compassionate lens of the novel and the research the author did to handle the setting.

Cons: Something about the narrator felt stiff and unrealistic; I found the tone of the narration just ever so slightly annoying. The resolution of the main mystery also felt a little too quick and neat. Edited to add: I read another review that articulated one of my issues with this book well -- despite the heavy/emotional topics this book deals with, the narration style (and frankly the boring-ness of the MC) was such that I didn't really *feel* much reading this other than curiosity about the plot.

Overall I enjoyed reading this; a solid read that kept me hooked for a few days! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood and Infidelity

juanat77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Body horror, Cursing, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Infidelity

getab00k's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Drug use

momocandy74's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

As a Philadelphia native, I loved all the name dropping of Philly landmarks (KOP, K&A, Franklin Institute, Mummer's Parade, Center City, the El, Academy of Music, Broad Street, the Ave, and probably more that I'm missing). I was surprised that the author isn't actually from here, and she clearly did her research with the locals. Especially when it comes to the culture around catholic schools and public schools, especially in the North/Northeast. 

However....I didn't love it. The ending was a little anti-climactic and

as happy as I was to learn that Kacey was safe and getting clean, her having been hiding away at their father's this entire time just felt so aggravating to me. After all that, she was in Delaware the entire time. And the reveal of who the killer was? I wish we had spent more time with him, making his guilt as the man killing these girls in the neighborhood have a little more weight, his reveal left me a little confused at first because i had honestly forgotten about him.

Overall though, a very well researched story taking place in Kensington and you can tell from every page that a lot of care was given to staying true to the locals and trying to tell the story from the point of a view of a local as best as possible, and I think she succeeded. Wasn't a huge fan of the overall plot (mostly just the ending), but I have to give credit for a great Philadelphia setting. 3.5! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Stalking, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Police brutality

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

I don't even know what to say about this one; it feels like I read a different book from everyone else. I appreciate Moore's handling of the opioid crisis and realistic depictions of addiction. But the story itself is so tedious, and the fact that it's marketed as a thriller is wild to me. Maybe if this was your first ever police procedural the plot could seem original? I wasted so much time listening to 500 pages of Mickey driving around in her cop car while thinking about her sad and lonely childhood, and that's time I will never get back.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

keandres's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Trafficking, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was very good, but a hard read. The subject matter is dark and the implications are dark as well. That being said it’s so important to read about this. I do have to say the writing style of this is so odd and took me a while to get into. I think if this was written differently it could have been a five star and maybe more emotional. As for the thriller/mystery aspect it really wasn’t the main plot( and I found it predictable), but I still enjoyed it and that it was underlying. I really enjoyed learning more about the sister relationship and the family dynamics. I do have to say I didn’t love the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual violence, Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Classism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Grief, and Trafficking

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

shainabriley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy