Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Nosferatu by Joe Hill

5 reviews

jaedia's review against another edition

Just taking too long to really get started, the characters are not doing it for me, they're too real in a very "grimy" kinda way... Only characters I liked were Maggie and Lou, and poor Lou is fat, and we are told just how fat he is every damn time he's mentioned. To the point where the way he's described at times feels fatphobic, you know? And it's SO much. Jesus. Charlie Manx, also, very interesting villain. But again, it took way too long to get to the point. We get dribs and drabs here and there (I stopped at 43%, it may have picked up after this point but I'm so mentally checked out) and the narrative is so ... jagged. Lots of POV hopping, and changes in time period and such. It's messy. I just don't think this one is for me. Sadly. I was so excited, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Second book of the year written by someone from the King family! 

I really enjoyed this more than I expected. I went in thinking it would be more ‘vampirey’, if that makes sense, but i guess the Nosferatu mentions are more metaphorical than literal. 

I found this really easy to get lost in, the story was interesting and the writing was really descriptive and painted a great picture of the world it takes place in. 

There are a few trigger warnings i would look out for if you’re going to read this and are sensitive to certain topics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

melchncookies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

chemical_crash's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ranocchietto's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the novel, I particularly liked the well-rounded characters, how each had its distinctive "voice" and the descriptions matched their personalities.

The book deals with cycles of trauma, growing up and the loss of innocence, and how people close to us make a difference in our lives, it was quite moving at times.

I would say my main problem was with the pacing, it felt unfocused towards the last third, it would have benefited from fewer digressions. I also felt the tone towards the end didn't match the tension the author was probably going for, but it didn't really spoil the experience for me.

Do check the content warnings before reading, it can get a bit heavy. The fatphobic undertones made it quite uncomfortable for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship