Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

4 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this. I read it very quickly because I wanted to find out the answer to the mystery. However, the main character had me in two minds. There were heart-wrenching aspects to his story, and there were times when it made me really smile seeing how much he was starting to accept himself. However, I did not find it enjoyable to read a character arc that consisted of "cop realises how bad the stuff he lets other cops get away with was." I'm glad he realised and learned and found a way to move forward in life, but I was with Judy on this one. It was hard to sympathzie with him, especially after

he remembered letting cops get away with raping lesbians. Jesus, that was bad, and just immediately brushed past.

I'm a little mixed on how the end played out as well. It seemed like Alice was way too obvious a candidate from the start, so I had fun thinking about which of the others it was going to be. But then when it turned out to be Alice and she was just a serial murderer, well, it was a little meh for me. The boldness of a story where almost all the characters are queer so one of them gets to be the villain without being the token queer villain got diluted by it being the only straight suspect who did it after all. A fair subversion, given the long history of queer and queer-coded villains, but less thought-provoking and innovative than it seemed at first. Also, we really just glossed over how Margo covered for her mother's murder for YEARS, and how Pearl killed a private investigator at the end of the book!

I really loved the way the setting of the house was described, with all the flowers and trees and the sense of seclusion. My favourite character was definitely Pat. I would have been happy to see more of his life! I liked the doctor-turned-bartender a lot too. Usually I gravitate towards queer women in books, especially historical ones, but it was harder to connect with the women in this book. I think it was just obvious that the author was writing what he knew with the queer men so their feelings and personalities shone through a lot more strongly than those of the women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Outing, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Animal death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Stalking, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Misogyny, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: War, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

alsira98's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

krisalexcole's review

mysterious tense slow-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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Outing, and Grief

Moderate: Police brutality, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, Animal death, Infidelity, and Vomit

katievh's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, Blood, and Grief