Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

6 reviews

ceruleanorchid's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

This is a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, and Death

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

like any short story collection, some were absolutely hits and others were misses. i wish i could’ve given this 5 stars based on some of the stories but others unfortunately brought it down. none of them were bad but some were just boring or lackluster. that was definitely a small amount of the stories though, most were very very good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Grief, Alcoholism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Medical content, Alcohol, Body horror, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

yogomagpie's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

I loved the first story, but after reading a few more stories I began to feel very fatigued. I grew bored reading so many similar stories over and over again and became desensitized to all the deaths and grieving. But maybe getting desensitized is the point. Anyway, my fav chapter is the one with the pig. It was so messed up and sad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, Medical content, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death

arlaubscher's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Body horror, Medical content, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Classism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Dementia, Confinement, Mental illness, Gore, and Infertility

teaandtales1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This was a wonderfully written story, but was also the most depressing thing I've ever read. 

Nagamatsu expertly weaves together separate stories that connect to one another as a complete novel that deals with grief and loss. While I often had to put the book down between stories, as it was so so heavy, I also know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.  I'd definitely want to check out more of the author's writing, as long as it's a bit cheerier.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

daisylady's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Animal death, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism