Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

17 reviews

phantomgecko's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

Big fan.

A novel that takes embroidery and sewing and portrays it as the legitimate art medium it is. Her needlework is not a weak female stereotype. It quite literally empowers her to be her own woman in a time when that's not easy.

Isobel is a fun character too. She's kind and clever but also naive and makes frustrating mistakes.

Also, hadn't thought much about xenophobia in New England. Like, here's a literate white woman in Massachusetts but oops, she's from ScOtLanD which means she's an imMiGraNt and uNtrUstwOrthY.

As a whole though, this was a great novel with great historical influence and creative speculation.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Classism

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

This book had really good writing but the plot didn’t get too interesting until the last third. I’m sorry but I don’t find things about stitching and dressmaking interesting. Of course there was a lot more to it than that but that seemed to have the majority of the descriptions 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

bookswithbront's review

emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

This book tried to do a few too many things and didn’t develop some of its ideas as fully as I’d like. But I still really enjoyed my time with the story. And I have a feeling that Isobel’s colors and the way the women came together to help each other survive are going to stick with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage and Forced institutionalization

maddb_96's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Pregnancy

icieri's review

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

kates_books's review

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? No

3.5

I didn’t love this book, but it was an interesting concept. I enjoyed the light touches of magical realism, the range within the historical accounts (Scotland, the Salem witch trials, Americas slavery, etc), and the message of the power possible when women come together. I think it was an honest reflection of the darkness and cruelty of men. However, it moved pretty slowly for me. It really picked up in the last third but getting there was tedious. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Slavery, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

bootsmom3's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape