Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

8 reviews

m2b2's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was so (so) sad, but really beautiful. There were entire sections where I felt like I was gasping for air as I read because I was so pained by the story telling. As a Chicagoan, who lived in Boystown for years, I was especially enamored. I felt like some aspects (e.g., Claire joining a cult) didn’t add much to the story, but this is the best book I’ve read in a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Infidelity, Drug use, Terminal illness, Grief, Police brutality, and Drug abuse

fynn_jls's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide

mmaack24's review

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

i think this may be the most beautiful and compelling work i have ever read. i admit that i was a bit skeptical at first, as it is written by a straight cis woman and about queer struggle, and also because it seemed to be so solely about queer struggle. i worried that it would be 400 pages of just trauma and sadness, but the emotions are so complex and the characters are some of my favorite depictions of queer men and complicated relationships i have ever experienced. i am so incredibly in awe, and i have a feeling this will put me in a reading slump because at the moment i can’t picture anything else being good or even worth reading because of how gorgeous this book was.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racism

and_abigail's review

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

sobbing screaming throwing up etc

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Cursing

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug abuse

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional informative sad slow-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

i thought this was just phenomenal. both storylines interested me and i felt so so much for the characters. this broke my heart but also put it together. this was devastating but beautiful.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Hate crime, Death, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual content, Addiction, and Alcoholism

scarlett4's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Cursing, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

burnyayhayley's review

emotional hopeful sad slow-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? N/A

5.0

I was very prepared to give this 4 stars, even 3 stars. The build is very slow, slower than I usually like. There are a lot of secondary characters, which at times became confusing. Some little things that would have been simple to explain were left untied (but this is actually not a big issue for me, just a frustration). 
Maybe this story hits too close to home, having lost someone myself who lived through this era and watched many friends die from AIDS. Perhaps I am also just a sap. But this book made me SOB. 
I was WEEPING. There are not many surprises in this book, just by the nature of the story, but there was a true and tangible depth of pain and power in the way these men are represented, and how they in turn represent an entire generation of lost queer people. It is clear that there was a wealth of respect held for this cast of characters and who they represented. 
Also, sometimes it takes a really beautiful, terribly sad and horribly accurate book to remind you how very important the little things in our lives are. How much we should be trying our hardest to hold onto each other and experiences of joy and all the weird fleeting magic of life. Because even when things are so shitty and we are sad and it feels like as soon as you get up there is something else beating you back down, there will still be something handing you a sliver of hope. And that will lend it all some beauty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Infidelity

Minor: Toxic relationship and Suicide

kate_lemer's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The Great Believers is one of those books you want to stay away from, but that - for some reason - won't let you and keep drawing you back. The writing is nothing exceptional. It doesn't offend, but it doesn't surprise, either. The majority is the telling style, not showing, which is a shame. However, there's something under the surface; situations, very real and human that make up for it. Sometimes, I would've liked to stick my head in the sand and pretend the world described in this book didn't exist, but that would be terribly selfish and make light of the lives lived and lost. 

I don't quite get why Bataclan got mixed into the plot. Was it there to give the Paris storyline some gravity? People pointlessly dying in the past and present? Then Claire should've died, strictly as a plot device, which is horrible to say, but feels the same.

The chapter with the new from Dr Cheng was one of the rare moments in this book that I truly felt the anguish and hopelessness of their lives. 

For a second, I thought the Paris surprise would be Yale, alive. Julian was the other option. Pointless hope, isn't that what this book is about? I know that to be false hope, because Yale was going to die the day Claire was born, that much had been made clear from at least the middle of the book. A shame, that the author did not dig deeper there - why Julian, why not Yale? It was strange, seeing my own questions written down as Fiona's monologue. 

As you get towards the end, you anticipate death. You brace against it, because what other ending could there possibly be. You grow numb. And then you break, because it really is heartbreaking. In a chapter full of strange metaphores and polar bears, Yale dies. 

Someone claimed in a review that Fiona's storyline was nicely woven in. Not in my opinion. Her contribution to the story is nill. Apart from the news that Julian is not dead, the whole 2015 plot could've been avoided.

I'm quite glad I have it over with. The end made me feel sluggish, sick to my stomach. I honestly don't know if I could've born more of this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug abuse and Grief