Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn

11 reviews

plantedpaperbacks's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.5

All I will say is, check the content warnings because wow this book is intense. (Also, listen to the audiobook)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.5

READ TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS
this was a great read (not necessarily because of the story since it discusses r*p* and s*x*u*l a*s*u*t, but the way it was told). It's multiple pov and can get pretty graphic. I wish we got a little bit of expansion on Michael and Sebastian as they were the victims we got the least amount of time with. I also didn't love the ending, but it was wrapped up nicely enough for me with how the victims coped and tried to heal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Grief, Sexism, Alcohol, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Cursing, Animal death, Mental illness, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

mfrisk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was like nothing I’ve ever read before. I want to strongly encourage folks to check the content warnings prior to delving into this book but once you’ve done that if you’re at a place where you feel you can read this book I’d highly recommend it. 

This book follows several men who’ve been raped by an unknown woman and we’re following them as they work to pick up the pieces within their lives and regain some sense of normalcy or something new. We follow them through journal entries, internet searches, online chats, and media reactions and they all come together to make a rich story that is able to delve into difficult topics including sexual assault and rape as it relates to racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, toxic masculinity, media coverage and our criminal justice system. 

This was an incredibly difficult read but I’m so glad I read it and I can tell I’ll be thinking about the questions it raised for years to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Violence, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abandonment

peggy_racham's review against another edition

5.0

"Any man will do."

A very difficult but important read. 
All the TWs

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Gore, Mental illness, Animal death, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cancer, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Well, I was looking for a change of pace and I think I got it.  The topic itself is hard to read about, hard to talk about, etc.

The writing was quite well done, kind of a bit of mixed media with the journal entries, chat logs, transcripts, poetry, and radio show vibes.  The first three victims were well fleshed out and their trauma was ever present and horrifying.  The later ones felt more superficial though I'm not really sure why.  There were also quite a few questions that were raised in the plot that were never answered that made it feel a bit rushed.

I do think this is a good book that has a lot of value in representing sexual assault as a whole and especially in male victims.  However, with all that in mind, I don't feel like I was the intended audience because I don't generally like to read books about rape.  I suppose I didn't expect it to be quite so graphic about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Body horror, and Torture

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

alisonfaith426's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Transphobia

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I reeeeally loved the voice and style of this book. I came into it fully expecting an everyday novel style but was quickly surprised and sucked into the flow of poetic vision among such a hard topic. So well done, I could not put this book down. Every character had such a unique experience, reaction, and coping mechanism to what they experienced. Just wow. So well done, I can't believe I didn't read this sooner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Transphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Murder, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Misogyny, Suicide, Ableism, Physical abuse, and Homophobia

autumnwhite's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Cancer, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

cursivewolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is so powerful. The writing style is so unique, but I loved it. I am not a man, so I cannot attest if this is accurate to male victims of assault. But to me, it brings a voice to something most don’t consider or take seriously. Sexual assault itself is a topic explored so much, but sexual assault on men and the aftermath of such is rarely, if ever, explored. Tamblyn did it diversely, respectfully, and accurately. This book is personal to me. It shows so accurately how sexual assault can take over and affect you afterwards. I wept reading this. Part of me wishes Maude was explored more, just a tiny bit more. But I loved this book, in a weird way. In a therapeutic way. I don’t know if it’s one I could read again, it’s a hard read. But it’s so beautifully and delicately done, but rips the bandaid off all the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Rape, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts