Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

8 reviews

stormeno's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Death of parent

colorwired's review

This book has an interesting premise but it moves so slowly that I found myself questioning whether I really liked it or not. 
I was also very thrown off by The Boy That Lived trope that becomes glaringly present in the first quarter. 
There are definitely parts that are dark and scary, but I somehow felt confined even though the story skips around the globe.
I didn’t finish this book because I didn’t want to do the work to plug through everything to get to the point. 
I was very disappointed because I was initially very excited about this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Trafficking

rosyapple's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

somewhere between miss peregrine's home for peculiar children and China Mieville's kraken. a medium amount of horror 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

mpbookreviews's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

anns_storybound_sanctuary's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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 love this book. Another 5/5 this year.

What impressed me the most was the story telling, the world building, the characters and how the author achieved it to give every character their own voice. The diction, punctuation and grammar is different for every character which gives them even more depth. 

The prose is also just gorgeous. The way J. M. Mirow describes each scene, setting the mood before diving into the action. This for me makes the storytelling even more immersive

The story itself is set mostly in Vicotrian England, at the end of the 17th century. This gives this book a dark academia feeling even though half of the cast of characters is under the age of 18. The story is written in a lot of different POVs which contribute to the immersion. 

I wouldn't rate this book as a YA novel as which it was marketed here. There is a lot of violence and loss in this book. Which I as an adult reader appreciated but is not fit for children. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Torture, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, and Death of parent

fate_of_ansley's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Cannibalism

librarianlayla's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

4/4.5 stars.

Prepare yourself for a heartbreaking, raw, ride. Beautifully written, darkly descriptive, and intense.

The only reason this doesn't get the full 5 stars is because there was very little ebb and flow of emotions. It is mostly fraught, with very few light moments to break up the harshness. But I did enjoy it greatly, and am looking forward to the sequel!

For fans of Miss Peregrine's, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Nevers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Murder, and Gaslighting

missindyrose's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail