Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Azúcar quemado by Avni Doshi

34 reviews

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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

Burnt Sugar's opening sentence sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the novel: "I would be lying if I said my mother's misery has never given me pleasure." What follows that powerful confession is a brutal, raw take on a deeply toxic mother-daughter relationship. From that first sentence until the last, I found myself repeatedly cringing over Antara's seemingly endless suffering and alienation.

The character-driven nature of this story brings the ramifications of intergenerational trauma and neglect into stark relief. Tara is an irredeemably awful mother. Her intense narcissism rears its ugly head over and over again, forcing Antara to always feel as though she is an extension of her mother instead of her own autonomous person. Thus, when her mother loses her memory Antara loses not only her mother but herself. Doshi beautifully describes their intertwined lives in this book, keeping a very dark story continuously compelling.

If you are a fan of dark character-driven novels and poetic writing, add Burnt Sugar to your list!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming and War

Minor: Incest

jesshindes's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

I was bought this last year (by my mum, obv) and it turned out to be a good companion piece to Nightbitch. It's another book about motherhood, this time from the perspective of a child whose mother hasn't given her the kind of care or security she needed. Now that mother is old and needs care herself, and the narrator is forced to reckon with the fact that a lot of her feelings are never going to be resolved. It's quite an unhappy little book but I liked it for its complicated picture of motherhood and womanhood (it might sit well against The Lost Daughter, too) and for its detailed depiction of its world and characters. It's one of those books that are saturated in sensory detail, which can be beautiful but is often flat out gross (reminding me of an article that I saw circulating on twitter recently about Disgusting Women in recent novels). Idk if Antara is a disgusting woman but Doshi definitely isn't afraid to be pretty blunt when describing, for example, her narrator's teenage self. That stylistic choice makes sense with the content: it's a novel that doesn't pretty things up. Burnt Sugar: not so sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Dementia

Moderate: Self harm and Pregnancy

eepemma's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Emotional abuse

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Dementia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Sexual harassment

sully's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

olivefoil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Dementia

Moderate: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Child death and Murder

itsamemarion's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Avni Doshi did a brilliant job at writing this book and detailing the difficult and exhausting relationships between a family, with a strong focus on toxic relationships between a mother and a daughter. The main character walks the reader through her lifetime, from when she was little to present day, detailing her experiences with her loved ones and those surrounding her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, War, and Dementia

Moderate: Pregnancy and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

sarahna's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

3 stars.

I see why this was long-listed for the women's prize of fiction. It's a deeply unsettling story that's written in a shockingly direct way and towards the end it even felt like a horror novel. Was Tara suffering from dementia or did she do so to torment and control her daughter Antara even more? The ending felt somewhat unsatisfying by not revealing an answer and the mention of some bodily fluid on every other page was unsettling. 
Still, this story can be analyzed and discussed pretty easily since everyone's a morally grey character and while I did feel with Antara for most of the story even she was unlikable at times. Mixed feelings but overall a read that makes you reflect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming

lunar_witch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Mental illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

tieganljohnston's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Eating disorder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship