Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

7 reviews

whyistoothpaste's review

challenging mysterious medium-paced

4.5

Best book in the series by far! A lot more fast paced with a lot of cool things uncovered. Expands on the story and gives a good well rounded idea of everything. Love the relationship characters build and the overall story telling was just so amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse

rylin_marie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.25

oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my goshhhhhhhhhhhh i’m speechless

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

falennahrm's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Dysphoria, Gore, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Cultural appropriation, Suicide, Stalking, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This instalment was just as spooky and atmospheric as the first book; I was completely hooked and read it in a day. Also, I liked that Stevie was actually investigating this time around. However, this series didn’t need to be three books. The plot and mystery are spread pretty thin, especially the romance with David, where the conflict just feels contrived. I also predicted who Truly Devious was early on in the first book. A predictable solution to a mystery doesn’t necessarily mean docked stars, but it does if the solution feels meh or unsatisfying, which is sort of the case here. I really hope things pick up in the third book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Confinement

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Gore, Kidnapping, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Alcohol, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Racism

Illness, bombs, discussion of global warming, HP reference, divorce

bookishgoob's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this second book was so much better than the first i’m so glad i continued with it. and the ending!!!! the twists!!!! highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

onemamareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-vanishing-stair

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

mayas's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

3.75 stars

Book CWs: murder, kidnapping, blood, animal dissection, anxiety disorder, alcoholism.

This was difficult for me to rate because the first half was slow-paced and I was bored but the second half was so good. I was a bit disappointed by some of the reveals (and also the last page) but I enjoyed the suspense and mystery.

This instalment introduced a few more characters, who were all (to my understanding) white, and the poc were barely relevant to this book. I hope the non-white characters are more present and relevant in the third novel!

I liked how Janelle's skills were used toward the end, though!

Overall, I really enjoyed this (the second half) and I like how Johnson writes her characters; there's a lot of compassion. The friendships are also really lovely.

:)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Cursing

(Further) Content Warnings: murder; animal dissection; alcoholism