Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

23 reviews

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

this is incredibly dark and hard to read. this book is very very depressing but it’s a good and important story that shows a woman having to face her own racism, as well as the racism in her community, while searching for her missing daughter. there are no heroes in this story, and there is no happy ending. while this is a crime novel, it covers racism, politics, grief, and much more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, and Toxic relationship

emziesreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

A great example of how crime writing can be a "trojan horse" to explore issues of race and prejudice. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Drug use, and Violence

jackjcaseyv's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

Just as a warning, there is a lot of violence and extremely racist dialogue.  The writer uses this to portray the darkness that can live within humanity, and tackles modern day problems.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Racial slurs, Murder, Violence, Drug use, and Cursing

rei_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Vomit, Addiction, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy

kitty03's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

808jake_'s review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Drug use

cassiebartelme's review against another edition

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

2.75

It’s been a while since I picked up a Dennis Lehane novel and this was was fine. It has his signature style of weaving a story with a large web of characters and I appreciated the setting against the Boston desegregation busing crisis of early 1970s but I ultimately felt like it was familiar territory…The Southie projects of Boston, Irish Catholics struggling to resolve “right vs wrong”, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, violence, the manifestation of parental love…

If you like what Lehane does in writing about Boston you will most likely enjoy this one. If you are looking for something different than pick something else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Drug use, and Hate crime

llayaz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Cursing, Child death, Grief, Drug use, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Addiction, Violence, and Drug abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical content, Gun violence, and Infidelity

clellman's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Violence, Gun violence, Cursing, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Abortion, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, and Mass/school shootings

encryptedorchardpest's review

dark informative reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Toxic friendship, Classism, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Hate crime, War, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, and Drug abuse

Minor: Hate crime, Vomit, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, Mental illness, and Mass/school shootings