Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

24 reviews

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

laurenw's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, Homophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, and Hate crime

Moderate: Cursing, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Antisemitism

thatswhatmegread's review

5.0

This book alternates between the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and one 30 years in the future. As I started reading this, I was really frustrated with the latter. I wanted more of the former (despite it being V sad); however, the 2010s timeline really depicts how loss and trauma shape you. How it impacts the people around you. And I ended up really loving both timelines.

This felt like a love letter to Chicago, to a generation of people lost, to the LGBTQ+ community, and friendship. I really loved this one, and hope you pick it up.

*I received a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug use

ninjamuse's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug use, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, and Bullying

znvisser's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

If I shed a tear I know I read a book that I love, and this story had me sobbing through several chapters. Absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Police brutality, Homophobia, and Pregnancy

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

cc0906's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, and Medical content

Moderate: Cancer and Excrement

Minor: Police brutality

emmapaigereads's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Chronic illness, Abandonment, and Alcohol

gracek67's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

brynngaybee's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad 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

5.0

The prose in this novel is very simple and practical and that makes it punch all the harder for me. I did not struggle to get through it at any point and was interested in the plot and characters at every point. I flet that Yale and his friends were well fleshed out characters that I could connect to. The best review I have is that it made me cry and I'll probably think about it often.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, and Excrement