Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

31 reviews

draconicdetective's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

Moderate: Classism, Stalking, and Abandonment

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

A slow but tense book about a woman who gets more than she bargained for signing up for a mysterious underground expedition with a paycheque that was too good to be true. I liked the descriptions of the caving itself and the push and pull between the main characters, the caver and her handler. I do think Em wound up being a bit too soft

(and it's sort of weird imo that she's so young considering she's already sent over 20 expeditions into this cave by the time Gyre tries it) and the Tunneler was scarier before the baffling decision near the end to force a confrontation with it

but overall great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Animal death, and Body horror

sphinxofblackquartz's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Medical content

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Gaslighting, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, Abandonment, Vomit, and Classism

Minor: Suicide and Excrement

Nonconsensual drugging, loss of bodily autonomy. Overdose. Hallucinations, paranoia, surveillance, unreality. Descriptions of bodies in various states of decay. Limb loss.

sargasso_c's review

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

3.0

The writing was very good, but as a whole the book rambled. It would start threads, abandon them for chapters and chapters, and then hurriedly try to tie them up when the main character was nearing the natural end of their journey. Contradictingly, some major plot points were not foreshadowed properly.

Even so - the writing style was quite enjoyable and this isn't at all bad for a debut novel.

The wlw representation was extremely satisfying to read, and I'm delighted that none of the conflicts centered around the queerness of the main characters.

I'm interested in reading more work from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Body horror, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Vomit

Minor: Gaslighting

beccaand's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Vomit

kscallahan's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical content and Murder

Main character is forcibly/non-consentually drugged multiple times and is manipulated and bribed by the woman who she is working for. The woman is her only contact with the outside world for a long time, is very controlling

and has caused others to die for her own gain. The two women enter a romantic relationship at the end of the book

. The main character also stops being able to trust her senses as the book progresses and is unable to determine how much she can trust herself and the woman she works for

inamerata's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Is it creepy or wet? It's a good book.
 
This is a new favorite and I bought my own copy as soon as I returned the library's. 

Also, the author’s playlist is great and lovely, but I do need to add my personal anthem for this is Sum 41’s In Too Deep. I imagine little AMVs in my head every time it comes on the radio. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Medical content

fictionalportal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Coming back to add to this review almost eight months after reading the book because I still think about this story. It's an absolutely haunting meditation on grief and the havoc it can wreak on the human psyche. Safe to say I never left the cave besties <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

boglord's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Moderate: Gaslighting, Colonisation, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis