Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

22 reviews

finn_1312's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Slavery and Drug use

Minor: Incest

eurypterus's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.5

Paul has to come to terms with fate and a plot to control him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, War, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Infertility, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Incest and Child death

hollowpointe's review

challenging sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Suicide, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Addiction, Violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Confinement, Slavery, Incest, Grief, Trafficking, War, Religious bigotry, Death, Blood, Body horror, Infertility, Medical trauma, Medical content, Stalking, Child death, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

bettysbookishworld's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I really enjoy the writing style where the villains' intention is presented and then we follow the story from that point until the final resolution. I think this narrative style is what keeps me so engaged and invested in the story itself. 

I like the ending and how the whole story from Dune until the ending of Dune Messiah turned out on the whole philosophical and religious level.  

However, the only negative thing to say about the second book is how female characters were written and unfortunately, it affected my reading enjoyment. In Dune, Herbert wrote female characters as strong, independent with their own minds. Even though they had the more traditional roles in the story, they were still written well. However, I didn't like how the women were handled in Dune Messiah. Mainly Alia. I felt uncomfortable how sexualized her character was when you think about her age. Also, all of the female characters lacked their personalities from the first book and here they were just submissive and shallow, really. 

I'll probably read the next book but will read it with caution and much lower expectations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gun violence, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexism, Incest, and Infertility

bergha1998's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

The main theme of this book is how power corrupts. It takes the whole Dune series in a completely different trajectory. We watch Paul in Dune and believe him to be the “savior,” but in this one we see that even he falls when given absolute power. 

“They’re trained to believe? Not to know. Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous.”

“There is nothing firm, nothing balanced, nothing durable in all the universe—that nothing remains in its state, that each day, sometimes each hour, brings change.”

“If you need something to worship, then worship life—all life, every last crawling bit of it! We’re all in this beauty together!”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Murder, Genocide, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Death, War, and Addiction

elsazetterljung's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Drug use

decapode's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

YES. just yes. satisfying and heartwrenching all at once. herbert's vision finally made clear to those of us who couldn't really get it while reading the original. my second read was so much more satisfying than the first; previously, i'd probably give this a 4. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Drug abuse, Incest, and War

aegireads's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

(bdg voice) i just wish it was something else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Pregnancy, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Death, Murder, and War

Moderate: Incest and Injury/Injury detail

graphic eye trauma

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Twelve years after the events of Dune, Paul still rules as the Emperor, with his sister as a religious leader at his side. He avoids jihad where he can, but even for someone as all-seeing as the Muad’Dib, some things cannot be avoided. A small group, whose members include the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam and Paul’s wife, the Princess Irulan, a Tleilaxu face dancer and a Guild navigator, plots Paul’s demise.

Messiah contains less worldbuilding and far less action than Dune, but (perhaps for those reasons) conveys Herbert’s warning against heroes that much better. We see Paul struggling with the future, trying to find a way to minimize the violence that he foresees, but he can never avoid it completely. Alia, too suffers from her status of near-divinity.

I initially disliked the Duncan Idaho storyline (and I still don’t like the Duncan/Alia pairings…the age gap is creepy), but I loved the idea that his love for Paul and the Atreides brought him back essentially from the dead. The power of love and devotion to change even the most intense training is great, and reminded me of Doctor Yue in the first book. I have also always been interested in the idea of sight and blindness, and the use in literature of blindness to signify true insight or foreknowledge. And, though I don’t generally like sad endings, I was moved by Paul’s commitment to the Fremen traditions, even though it meant his own death.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Definitely not happy, but more…bittersweet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Child death, Colonisation, Hate crime, and Sexual content

dayelb_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Frank Herbert is easily one of the best authors I've ever read. I don't see why any of these books aren't considered classics. This book takes you on a wild ride and represents the end of an era in the world of Arrakis. I can't wait to read the 3rd book as this one brought about just as many questions as it answered -- quite characteristic of Frank Herbert's writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Incest, Infertility, Pregnancy, Suicide, and War