Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

52 reviews

alichan459's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Confinement, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexism

sarahweyand's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

How wonderfully surprising! I didn't know much about this book going in but I had a great time and am looking forward to reading the sequel. I thought the worldbuilding was well done and I really loved the characters and the range of emotions Roanhorse made me feel about each of them. Normally I'm more of a hard magic system girlie, but I enjoyed the ways the author incorporated different types of magic into the world; it really enhanced the story instead of being the focus of it. I also really liked the influence of the precolonial Americas on her worldbuilding and plot, I found it to be unique and compelling.

I will say I felt like Black Sun took me longer to finish than I expected, and I think the book dragged slightly in the middle, but that did little to lessen my enjoyment of an overall wonderful start to a trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Blood

drlove2018's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.75

One of the most intense and compelling fantasy/speculative fiction books I’ve ever read, incredible world building and detailed cultural context. The beginning has some body horror, but once you get past that the violence is not as graphic/explicit (except for one scene near the middle), and it never feels gratuitous or sensationalist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Genocide, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, and Xenophobia

shanekate's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

solenekeleroux's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Genocide, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Confinement

drinaiscold's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Grief

Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, and Murder

catastrophic's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

So much is great in this with a few big flaws. Amazing, unique magic system and world based on mesoamerican culture and mythology, it was incredibly compelling and refreshing. Huge fan of the swashbuckling bisexual pirate woman! And using neo pronouns, that was so great.
But the dialogue and emotional beats when characters were interacting were often odd and stilted, and the ending didn't land for me.
Still a great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder

pinkhyxteria's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Torture

sailorpulsar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Suicide, War, Alcoholism, Ableism, and Homophobia

julia87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

I really wanted to love this book. The world building is amazing, I loved the representation of disabilities and the diversity in this story, however something just fell flat for me. 

I struggled to find all of the different povs interesting. I loved Xiala, she comes from such an interesting culture I wish I could’ve learned more about. Serapio was also an intriguing character with a lot of potential for development. He has such a crazy backstory that I also wish came to more in the end. His development just felt rushed and didn’t really result in anything astronautical. Naranpa and Oakoa were definitely my least favorite point of views, though they too have cultures and backgrounds I find incredible, I just couldn’t feel empathic for them? I can’t quite figure out why I just didn’t love their chapters as much. 

The plot was very meh. There was sooooo much build up and for what? There really was nothing exciting at the end that made me want to read the next book. I understand the build up will probably take hold later, but the plot had so much potential the execution just wasn’t there. 

I give this book three stars because it definitely has its pros and cons. The representation is wonderful and I feel that within this genre (and almost every genre of book) there needs more representation like this. The settings were well written, the characters as well though some definitely more than others. The world building was magnificent, very well done. The plot on the other had was sub par, and as someone who loves an explosive ending, this just wasn’t for me. The writing style was fine, however again, not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Biphobia, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry