Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

33 reviews

sacculent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

This book made me dissociate in a good way. The ending is terribly sad and yet hopeful and positive, and throughout it the whole book made me think differently about the world a little bit. The only thing holding back a 5 star is the writing style in a series of letters, it isnt bad necessarily but sorta made it hard to get in to in the beginning and sometimes i found it challenging for some reason. For now this is my favourite book, because it’s the last one I read. 💕

P.S: this book tackles a whole lot of traumatic events, sexual abuse, drug abuse, and others. Be aware of that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Rape, and Incest

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Racism, and Misogyny

gellyreads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm rounding up on this one because I feel like this book tries to cover a lot. I'm not sure it handles all of these serious topics well, but I think it is admirable that it tries to tackle all of these ideas while showing unique expressions of gender, identity, and personality expression. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

lottata's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Mental illness, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Outing, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Self harm, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

singalana's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Kirjan luettuani nukuin yön yli, enkä siltikään oikein tiedä mitä siitä ajattelisin. Se on sekä etäinen että intiimi, toiveikas mutta synkkä ja monella muullakin tapaa hyvin dualistinen.

Stephen Chbosky on ehkä paremmin tunnettu elokuvaohjaajana. Elämäni seinäruusuna on hänen ensimmäinen kirjansa, jonka elokuvasovituksen hän myös ohjasi. Elämäni on kirjeromaanin muodossa kerrottu kehitysromaani, joka käsittelee aikuistumista, perheen ja ystävien merkitystä, sekä nimenomaisesti “seinäruusuna” olemista ja ulkopuolisuuden kokemusta.

Elämäni seinäruusuna kertoo 15-vuotiaan Charlien elämästä yhden vuoden ajalta. Charlien ystävä Michael on tehnyt itsemurhan, ja jokin saa Charlien kirjoittamaan kirjeita tuntemattomalle “ystävälle”. Kirjeissä Charlie kuvailee elämäänsä ja hänelle tapahtuneita asioita. Charlie kertoo perheestään, ihmissuhteestaan erääseen opettajaan, yksinäisyydestään ja siitä, kun hän löytää tiensä kaveriporukkaan. Charlie kertoo alkoholista, huumeista ja toisten ihmisten ongelmista. Vaikka hän kertoo hyvin intiimeistä asioista, jotenkin hänen oma elämänsä tuntuu jäävän etäiseksi. Kirjan lopussa Charlie vihdoin kertoo mahdollisen syyn sille, miksi hän on “seinäruusu”.

Charlien hahmo jää tosiaan etäiseksi, mutta lopussa lukija saa käsityksen siitä, miksi Charlie on mieluummin ollut tarkkailijan roolissa. Vaikka Charlien suhde hänen sisaruksiinsa ja vanhempiinsa on välillä koetuksella, Charlien perhe vaikuttaa aidolta ja rakastavalta. Charlien ystävillä on omat ihmissuhdekiemuransa. Tärkeimpiä Charlien ystäviä ovat sisaruspari Sam ja Patrick. Kolmikon välinen ystävyys on elämänmakuista, sotkuista ja sydäntä lämmittävää.

Kirja on monimutkaisempi kuin itä päältäpäin näyttää, ja sen tapahtumissa on paljon sulateltavaa. Kuitenkin Elämäni seinäruusuna antaa vilauksen siitä, miten elämämme on monimutkainen verkko ihmissuhteita, joista jokaisen taustalla on omat vaikuttimensa ja menneisyyden painolastinsa. Kuten tämä kirjakin, elämä ja ihmissuhteet ovat sotkuisia, mutta on parempi osallistua elämään, kuin jäädä sivustakatsojaksi. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Minor: Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, and Toxic friendship

laylawren's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Grief, Sexual violence, Drug use, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Outing, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Minor: Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Incest, Abandonment, Car accident, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Hate crime, and Toxic relationship

cadybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Incest, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Car accident, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Abortion, Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, Cursing, Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

andst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

I feel like this book really encaptures self-improvement during high school. How, at that age, we feel aimless, worthless, unlikable and inadequate. How we tirelessly look for a sense of belonging and how somehow it's never enough. It's depressing, stressful, and deeply relatable. 
Throughout the book Charlie experience a sense of hopelessness while he sees the world (and the people) around him break down into pieces, just to realize that he cannot do anything to fix them no matter how much he tries. All the characters come with their own set of problems and we can see how these problems consume Charlie completely, even if they don't belong to him. Which is something some of us can deeply relate to.
This book makes you feel seen and understood. It encourages you embrace those around you despite their flaws, because we are not perfect either. We are all trying to get through life one day at a time, might as well just do it along those you care for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Car accident and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide attempt

maggiemooreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Self harm

Minor: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abortion, and Rape

gillianraye's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault

jellymart's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment