Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee

20 reviews

aunlc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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juliaxgulia's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

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_nellie_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

Stunning novel. Painful and confronting as its heavy with traumatic experiences, but heartbreakingly beautiful too. Important read as well. Complex and layered, touching on so many challenging topics.

I don't know if I've ever read a novel with a main character who felt so real before. Ranita doesn't feel like a fictional character that represents a group of people, she feels real. 
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woweewhoa's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad 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

Overall, I liked the story that was told, it was really interesting to learn about ranita and her life up until the point. I did think that the 'big reveal' was underwhelming or we were missing it
her dancing in the garden, during the rain, in the middle of the night? What was the big deal? I felt like we were missing a scene there


Sometimes the writing was a bit much, hard to get through, being overly descriptive/wordy, but then it went away
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helenwalker's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring sad fast-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

5.0

beautifully written, painful yet hopeful, and touching.
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rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

5.0

I loved this book with my whole heart. The author did such an incredible job exploring intersectionality with the main character being a woman who is black, queer and a mother. The events and dialogs we experience through Ranitas' eyes show both the surface level, as well as the more complex struggles of life post incarceration. 

I listened to this on audio (Libro.fm) and found it very easy to follow, even when the timeline changed. The character development was 10/10, and I appreciated that we got to know almost every single character in Ranitas life so intimately. 

I have experience within the system of corrections, and I appreciated how accurate the representation of prison life was. So many times, I caught myself saying, "Wow, this is exactly how it is." 

This wasn't a "poor me" kind of story, but a life like account of the unfortunate circumstances that many people who become incarcerated have been through.  Ranita takes responsibility for her actions, and I admire her so much.

This book is extremely well written and one I will think about for years to come! Ranitas resilience was inspiring and beautiful. 
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harperphillips96's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

This was such a beautiful and hopeful book, although obviously if you check out the content warnings there is a lot of heavy shit in it. I was interested in the question of whether this book is heavily focused on the flaws of the main character, and I really don’t think it is, though of course the section before she’s incarcerated feature a lot of destructive choices. Mostly, it’s a deeply forgiving book about someone doing her best to be better, and being loved as she tries, and it really touched me. 
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entropyseeker's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A lovely book about the hard journey to recovery after substance abuse. 
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zefphyra's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

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