Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Girls by Emma Cline

59 reviews

thisbookrox's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Death, Drug abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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? No

3.0

The Girls by Emma Cline was a snapshot into the life of Evie and her involvement with a cult. I really wanted to love this book, but I felt like there were a few aspects that took me out of the story. First, the lens through with the story was told: and older Evie looking back at the past. While I didn’t mind the flashbacks, I thought the addition of these young characters who didn’t seem to care much about anything was out of place. I think the story could have been much more grounded if we were experiencing the traumas first hand for the entire novel, though I did like the added input from older Evie. I thought that the book was well-written, but the time jumps seemed random, more than planned. I also wish we had seen more of the progression of the cult behavior. It seemed to go pretty quickly from zero to one hundred and back again, with a lot of the middle ground feeling as though it lasted forever. Evie’s position on the outskirts created a blank space, that I wished we could have had filled in. A lot of the questions Evie had, especially about the other girls,were a lot of the same questions I had as a reader and these felt unanswered. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but it was definitely a slower pace than I was anticipating with a cult novel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Murder, Rape, Violence, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Adult/minor relationship

lindseyas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

More than the story of a girl becoming involved in a cult, this book is all about girlhood, growing up and growing into your own skin. Evie is a helpless girl that thrives off of male attention, validation and feeling accepted by the people around her. Russel's cult is a representation of this commonly feminine trait — he is able to use his charisma and air of acceptance to bring in naive women that want the same thing as Evie. He accepts them for who they are, gives the attention that they so desire and makes them feel special. The cult is much less a physical thing and more of a metaphor for this traditionally feminine idea, how young girls are desperately in search of a home where their flaws are considered beautiful, where their spirit can be free and where men are there to guide them and treat them like they are princesses. But, this cult of society has a dark after-effect — this validation only lasts for a small period of time and can results in violent, deadly and disturbing consequences.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Child death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

definitely_bs's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Genuinely mind blowing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

miamcmillan's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

i feel like it didn’t get the vibe of a sixties summer right? like all the words were there and all the actions and characters just none of the spark. overall just fairly bland but not bad 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

avasbookmark's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use and Murder

adelexmarie's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, and Cursing

calisbooklog's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Child death

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, and Sexism

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Evie, please go see a therapist.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Cursing