Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Affinity by Sarah Waters

9 reviews

lidia7's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

Really enjoyed it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Violence, Excrement, Abortion, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Classism, Blood, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Terminal illness

eleanor029's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I love Sarah Waters' writing but this book was so slow to build up. Had it been my first of hers, I'm not sure I would have finished it. 
Having finished it, I see the full picture and can appreciate the story, but while reading it, I was not as hooked as usually when reading Sarah Waters. 
This would be a good book club book to compare to 'Fingersmith', since I thought the vibes were similar in the end. 

I did find it quite unsatisfying though, that Selina never came to Margaret at all. I would have found the betrayal greater had she maybe come to Margaret in her room, kissed her, taken the things and then left her standing. But then again, the context of her escape would have been harder to explain...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

third_bookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

This was very good. I love to read about deeply messed-up lesbians. One thing that I enjoy a lot about Waters' writing is that many of her main characters are interesting and enjoyable to read about despite not being even slightly likable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Drug use

nialiversuch's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion and Child death

Minor: Alcohol and Terminal illness

emilyeehaw's review

slow-paced

okay miss sarah waters…you got me there! at several points throughout the book, i considered DNFing but i ended up finishing it and WOOF! i’m glad i did. i thought the ending of this book was so well-done and answered just as many questions as it left.

during my reading experience, i really was so back-and-forth on the validity of selina dawes and her “powers” as a medium. one moment i was like omg wow this girl really can talk to spirits and the next i was just shaking my head over how silly people were to be believing her. and the ENDING got me good in this regard. 

margaret was an interesting narrator. i felt for her in terms of wanting more independence and wanting connections to the women, specifically selina, at the prison even when these maybe weren’t the best relationships. i liked that this book was told in epistolary format, i’m always a sucker for that.

deeply sorry that ENDING dhdjhshd really has me gooped. seeing how the pieces all fell into place…good stuff. maybe i’m easily impressed but i truly did not see it coming.

this book is definitely more of a slowburn that was a little boring at times but ultimately paid off in the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Suicide attempt

achillea's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

Ok this book isn't bad but very much not my cup of tea. Don't have the spoons to say more but I might have enjoyed it more if I read it when I was in a different headspace - wherever it is that I am right now, there was no room for this book and I feel like I wasted my time with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

eleanorryd's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

While reading it, it felt a bit slow, but once I got to the end it was all sooooo worth it. Other than the sometimes slow pace and the very long chapters (not all of them, but the ones that aren't short are looooong), I really have nothing to complain about. I love the characters - Margaret and Helen are sometimes a bit annoying but that feels intentional, I think - the gaol is an amazing setting (especially when Margaret talks to the porter near the end and he describes how it moves and cracks and floods and feels alive, those paragraphs were just so beautiful). I don't want to spoil it too much, but for anyone considering DNFing: THE ENDING IS WORTH IT.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

There are brief descriptions of self-inflicted injuries and general illness in the gaol, as well as the main character dealing with grief over her dead father and her suicide attempt in connection with that. Her mother is not the most understanding woman, but I would not call it abuse.

jonesmonster's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was darker and less tightly plotted than Fingersmith but I still loved it. It took me a few chapters to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down. The central character veers from sympathetic and sensible to disastrously out of control of her life in a way that made it difficult to 'love' her but she definitely got under my skin.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexism

faesissa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse