Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

10 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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charlillama's review against another edition

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0.25

This book is somehow homophobic, transphobic, fatphobic and just generally awful all rolled into one.
I started reading it because I thought the premise sounded good (and it was free on the Kindle store) but it’s trying too hard to be ‘funny’ and just becomes dreadful. There’s slut-shaming, ableism and ‘crying wolf’ about being a victim of sexual assault.
I spent most of the book trying to work out what exactly was happening, the author has clearly tried to be mysterious but just comes off as incompetent most of the time.
The protagonist is a ‘woe is me’, emotionally distant woman who clearly hates herself, and the author did not make me sympathise or empathise with her at all.
The fact all her behaviour is seemly based upon her having experienced trauma as a child (including a head injury) just frustrated me no end, and she comes off as a whiny selfish prat who murders people when things don’t go her way.
Finding out the father was part of an anti-paedophile vigilante gang was probably the only interesting twist, but it doesn’t excuse the rest of the garbage I read.
I could have told you she was going to kill the 19 year old when she asked him to pretend to be dead while they were having sex, and there’s so many red flags and unanswered questions that frankly
it was a chore to read, but I read it solely to be able to write a review to prevent other people having to lose brain cells over reading it.
If I could give it 0/5 I would, but alas I cannot.
Pass me the brain bleach, or put me out of my misery.

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whackettreading's review

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dark fast-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

1.0

Poorly researched, only sticks to diary format part of the time, humour is crass and cruel with a character who is meant to be an unreliable narrator but who reliable tells you what she's lying about all the time.

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1989dearjohn's review against another edition

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

5.0


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disguisedposer's review against another edition

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

4.0


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grunbean's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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

3.0

I'm not sure how I feel at the end of this book. There are parts I love. The beginning and the introduction of this witty but dark, and frankly mean, main character is engaging. There was a good chunk of the book where I was rooting for Rhiannon, even though her moral compass is clearly skewed.
I think things went downhill when it started becoming about the affair and her pregnancy. There was something uncomfortable with the age gap (though I think that's the point) but there was something that made it really hard to read those scenes without thinking ‘What on earth am I reading’.
My experience with the last part of the book made the rest of it sour. I did enjoy it, but not as much as I feel I could if it was just different. There's potential.

I have seen some comments on the remarks Rhiannon makes, particularly the comment on Taylor Swift. I have, in good faith, assumed that that's down to Rhiannon fundamentally being a bad person despite her rationalizing her actions. However, I do understand how these can leave a bad taste in the mouth.

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gryffinguin's review against another edition

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

4.0


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madelinequinnee's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-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

4.5

This was a fun read. A good mixture of disturbing scenes and comedic passages, definitely in the same vein as How To Kill Your Family. 

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beate251's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"I just want some stability in my life. I want a house with four front windows and two hanging baskets and a garden where I can grow things. A bigger lawn for Tink. And a better job. And a book deal. It’s not too much to ask, is it?"

Rhiannon, 27, lives with her cheating boyfriend Craig and Chihuahua Tink. She hates her job and has anger management issues stemming from deep-seated childhood trauma. In her free time, she plays with Sylvanian families, walks her little dog and kills people like the unhinged  psychopath and serial killer she is.

I have a penchant for female serial killers who go after bad men but she is actually trying to lure them in by walking around deserted alleys at night. She doesn't shy away from killing women, and she derives sexual pleasure from her bloodthirsty deeds. So I was quite uncomfortable reading her matter-of-fact diary entries about balancing her deadly shenanigans with meeting friends and pretending to be normal.

I have to say her daily kill lists - strangers who annoyed her that day by queue jumping, overcharging or other heinous crimes - are kind of relatable but after a while she makes very sweeping statements and I found myself on them twice ("Everyone who lives or works in London" and later "the entire human race").

Once she complains about people who make grammatical mistakes but says "me and Craig" instead of "Craig and I" all the time! Personally, that needled me greatly, but Rhiannon's thoughts and behaviour are at no point logical, as she admits herself. For example, absolutely everyone who manages to lock two in-flagrante rapists in a van would drive that van to the nearest police station. But not her. Oh no. She finds a much more deranged but ever so entertaining solution.

I actually felt sorry for her a few times about how utterly unhappy she seems to be. But instead of throwing her boyfriend out (she knows all about the affair) or changing her job she gets her kicks by killing people. At the end, the tally I counted was 11 people, two of them historic. That's a lot! You need a strong stomach for this book - the gory stuff often comes out of nowhere. She also swears like a whole ship full of sailors.

Despite all this I was kind of mesmerised and read this twisted, deeply gripping and darkly funny tale as fast as I could. It's brilliantly written but dare I say 100 pages too long, especially as this is only the first of five books in this series.  The cliffhanger makes me want to read the next one NOW because I must know how she gets out of the situation she is in - pregnant and just about to hack her dead lover to pieces when the doorbell goes!

"How many men does it take to tile a bathroom? One – but only if you slice him veeeeery thinly."

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singalana's review against another edition

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dark funny tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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