Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Dinner by Herman Koch

9 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Sexual harassment, Racism, Abortion, Sexual content, and Addiction

Minor: Pregnancy and Pedophilia

h4ppycupcake's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This read like a Dutch take on American Psycho. Not for the faint hearted. I didn’t find any of the characters particularly interesting and I didn’t end up feeling satisfied with how the story concluded. There was some interesting commentary regarding how society judges who can be considered an “innocent victim,” but it was not a pleasant character revelation. Truth be told, there were no pleasant parts of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

sphinxofblackquartz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism and Car accident

Minor: Classism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Abortion, Mental illness, and Alcohol

beklovesbooks's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

3.75

Well done. Dark, creepy, sometimes hard to relate to. I like that it all takes place over one long dinner with flashbacks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Torture, and Cursing

jazsever's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Murder, Violence, Death, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Racism

hannibanani29's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Hate crime, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Racism

cams_all_booked's review against another edition

I can handle reading about unlikable characters, sometimes it can be enjoyable. I can also make it through boring sections of certain books to get to the "good stuff." Neither of those was the reason I stopped reading this book. I didn't finish it because I just don't care. I don't care about what might happen later in the book because whatever happens later isn't worth it if I have to sit through what some rich, vapid asshole thinks about whatever the fuck for 100 more pages. If I had to sit through one more disgustingly racist or homophobic remark, I would've broken my mom's kindle.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol

kashby's review

dark reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Violence

thecreature's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Certainly the kind of book that makes you think “what the hell is wrong with these people?” about the characters, and maybe about the author too. Very similar energy to We Need to Talk About Kevin. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol