Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

6 reviews

ofarkas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, Grief, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, and Rape

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Ooh this one was twisty, and I was very here for all the drama. I liked the depiction of the hoarding issues, which felt like it was more sympathetic than it usually is portrayed in media.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Abandonment, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Cancer, Sexual assault, Abortion, Rape, Terminal illness, and Grief

corriejn's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A fine read, though a bit slow moving for me. I found that some of the storylines resolved a bit too easily/tidily for me, especially given the character dynamics established throughout the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Child death, Fatphobia, and Suicide

Moderate: Terminal illness, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Drug use, Incest, and Alcoholism

blouviere4's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Pregnancy, Suicide, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Rape

ljustin's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

This book was a bit of a slow starter for me, but once it got going I really enjoyed it. The pace remained slightly slow at times, but overall a good read. 

Poor mental health, and how it impacts the sufferers and those around them, is discussed a lot more in books I've found (and about time too!) But I've never read one where the main mental health theme was hoarding. Jewell writes some sections of the book from Loralei's perspective via emails to a friend and its really interesting to read her own perspective of her hoarding and how she finally comes to terms with it being a central issue in her life. 

There are many other themes discussed throughout the book; family, love, betrayal, guilt, and they all intertwine really well to make a coherent story. All the themes, and thr characters own problems, are linked back to the house they grew up in (hence the title 😉) and their mother's hoarding. Its a really well written book. 

There is also an element of mystery, in that you don't truly find out what happened on the Easter Sunday until the end. This mystery elements adds another dimension to the story and kept me reading right until the end - I actually stayed up very late to finish it and regretted it the next day!! 

Overall a 4 star read. I would recommend to lovers of family/drama style fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, and Rape

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really rather liked this. I enjoy books that are character centric, I'm not necessarily put off by the lack of a plot driven aspect. Is it perfect? No. It's actually rather a sad and messed up story, but I also think many parts of it were relatable, and it did well showing the growth of characters from children to adults, and honed in on nostalgia and the sense of the clock ticking, and contemplating all the choices you've made in life. What's keeping me from giving it five stars is that I thought the big reveal would be, well... Bigger. That somewhat dimmed things down for me. All that build up for not that much of a shock. But that's okay, it was still worth a read for me. I've read a couple other Lisa Jewell novels and consistently enjoy her writing. I didn't really expect this, though, but I'm pleased I gave it a go. I have a feeling it'll stick with me quite a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Confinement, Incest, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Bullying, and Car accident