Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee

53 reviews

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.5

I read Anna Karenina when I was in college. That was a heavy book, both metaphorically and physically. So I had always been hesitant when I see books catered towards the modern audience with inspo or bare bones plot devices from the classics. Granted, this was a lot, not as heavy as the Russian novel but imagine a lot of rich kids doing… rich kid things. Sex, drugs let’s rock n roll type of vibe. The surprise twist at the end was definitely a surprise since it’s not quite how the inspo ended. Is this a little too much? At times it can be a little eye roll inducing and unnecessary but I did like the diversity that was in this. It’s not a deeply profound book but if you are looking to unplug your brain, this might fit. Note there are some weird quotes from certain characters that are a little cringey. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content, Death, and Xenophobia

carolinesbookreviews's review against another edition

lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Death

Moderate: Animal death

maya_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Death

1004indeyo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Car accident, Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual content, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Bullying, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

kbucheit's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Alcohol, and Racial slurs

hkburke2's review

slow-paced

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

2.0

I was going to DNF this but saw someone say they liked the audio version so after about 20% I switched to audio and managed to finish. There were elements of this that were interesting enough to keep me hanging in (subtle commentary on microaggressions, representation of a very priveledge world...) but everything else was just not right for me. The way the characters spoke didn't ring true to my conversations with/around teenagers... They were shallow even in the plot lines that were meant to show depth of character. I think the problem for me was not necessarily shallow characters but shallow writing. I can see why this worked for a lot of people, and I love the idea of a more diverse retelling of a classic, but this wasn't it for me. I did like the author's note though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexism, and Animal death

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

sierranorgan's review

dark emotional funny relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was wild in many different ways. It had such a gossip girl vibe to it that I enjoyed, and the audiobook narrator was really playing that up! But sometimes the characters and situations were so absolutely ridiculous that I wasn’t to smash my head into something 😂 maybe it’s things that I’m missing from it’s source material? I’m not sure. But overall I enjoyed being brought back to that gossip girl feeling that I’ve missed! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Mental illness, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Racial slurs

carlyhearts's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racism, and Cursing

sydapel's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

 I feel really conflicted about this one. I went in with really high hopes (I've never read Anna Karenina, but I'm a big fan of the movie), and while I think it's a really good retelling, there's a couple things that deeply bother me. The first is the writing style. You can tell the author is trying to portray the style of Tolstoy, but it feels clunky and overdone. Not to mention the "teenager speak" made me cringe. Hard. Upon learning the author has written for a lot of CW/Disney shows, these choices begin to make sense, but the overall writing style directly took me out of the realism of this story. Secondly, and more controversially, I'm not sure how I feel about the romanticization of "dying for love" that comes with the book's conclusion, especially in the context of teenage love and lust. I'm happy about the direction the author took here, but the underlying note it leaves us on is slightly problematic, especially given the YA audience it's intended for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Child death, and Addiction

thebookishkatie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion

CW: death, drug use, adultery, toxic parents, depression, anxiety, alcohol, reference to abortion, child sex tape