Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

8 reviews

avisreadsandreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Self harm, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Acephobia/Arophobia, Deadnaming, and Medical content

Minor: Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

hyperashley's review

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Cannibalism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child death, and Body horror

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

readsforlove's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

I adored the concept of this book, but I didn't love the ending. I wasn't sure how things would go, and I think the themes of the story change a lot depending on the outcome of the narrative. I did love that the MC was asexual though, and that it was explicitly stated instead of assumed! I liked the merry band of four that had formed by the end, and most of the cast was delightfully creepy. It was great. Just ... mixed feelings about that ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Violence

tiredtori's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Death, and Body horror

Minor: Vomit

purplepenning's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Deportation, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Child death, Murder, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, and Grief

Minor: Ableism and Deadnaming

eligru's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Bullying, Dysphoria, Child death, Eating disorder, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

egernand's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I feel like this story should have been more reflective, but wasn't given time to breathe due to the plot barging in. I don't feel that the plot added much, and prevented the character exploration or some of the setting exploration I wish would have taken place. Also, it was jarring and characters' roles/reactions to it damaged my suspension of disbelief. I liked the initial ideas of this story, but was unsatisfied by the direction it went.

The story is about children who had adventures in other worlds, and have now returned to the normal world and have to figure out how to cope. I thought that would be the focus of the book, and that it would explore things like the drastically different scope of what's important, coming from magical/extremely other worlds where you might die, or are saving the world, or are stuck as a servant, etc, returning to a world where you're just expected to do well in school, act nice to other children, behave for your family, etc. The plot overrode any deep exploration of that position these people find themselves in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Bullying

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Graphic dismemberment

mariebrunelm's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

The Umbrella Academy meets The Starless Sea meets The OA in this improbable, dark fantasy that reads like YA with elements of horror.

Nancy is a teenage girl just back from a visit to the Underworld. Her parents don't understand what happened, and her only certainty is that home is no longer here, it's there. Then she gets sent to Eleanor West’s Home For Wayward Children, where she meets other students like her - who are only waiting for the day they can go back.

I had been warned that this book was strange, and it did not disappoint. It felt both familiar in the setting of a school for gifted students, but also highly weird and whimsical, thanks to the glimpses we get of the worlds waiting outside the doors. Then it got cute because the characters are mostly adorable, before dipping into murder mystery and that's where I stopped trying to define this book. The only thing I know is that I highly recommend it, and I'm ready for volume 2! Many thanks to @book.landish for the gift.

Rep: asexual MC, trans secondary character, Japanese secondary character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, and Forced institutionalization