Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

80 reviews

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

This book is decent but I don't feel it fully delivers on the themes that it sets up at the beginning of the book. It always felt like I was waiting for something more interesting to happen, which it did on occasion but not enough to warrant a higher rating. I feel that the author unintentionally pointed out in the acknowledgements section of the book when she said she had a notebook of unwritten ideas, and she chose several to string together.

Felicity and Ellis were both strong characters, but I think the supporting cast could have been better utilised. Case in point

the biggest contribution of one of the side characters, a Black girl, was to talk about the school's racist past and how her grandmother was one of the first Black alumna. Since she didn't really get much to do outside of that role, she came across as a bit of a caricature instead of the critique of how white academia is that the author probably intended

.

If it's one thing the book has going for it, it's the atomosphere. Lee manages to perfectly capture the feeling of a gothic boarding school isolated from the rest of the world, and the girls that inhabit it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content

monaluffy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

Yes! A dark academia book with witchy vibes that I LIKED!!!!! I wasn't dissapointed AT ALL, Love to hate this characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and Emotional abuse

Minor: Eating disorder

lennatheunicorncat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

mars_ira's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, and Forced institutionalization

werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookmarkedbyfi's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Toxic friendship

dernhelms_bag's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Abandonment

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

I was super excited to read this because queer dark academia is right up my street. It was very well written, and gave me modern classic gothic vibes. Shirley Jackson is mentioned a lot and it did remind me of her work somewhat. 

Unfortunately I found the characters to be a bit unlovable which really made it hard for me to feel anything for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Outing, and Classism

jmross10's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

The premise of this book sounded excellent and in the first few chapters it really seems like something epic is going to happen. Then you hit the halfway point and you start to wonder what the plot actually is. The problem being, that’s around the point you stop caring. 

At 3/4 the way through I guessed the ending and probably would have DNF’d if I hadn’t been curious enough to see if I was right. I was, for the record, but it was so anticlimactic that being right wasn’t even satisfying. I wish I’d read something else instead. 

To me, this reads as more of a domestic thriller (that just happened to be in a school) than it does dark academia (I know opinions on what this actually entails vary). The plot was familiar in that I basically read the same thing earlier this year and Lee didn’t add anything to it that made it feel new or worthwhile. 

I wish Lee had leaned into the Supernatural aspect more because the story of the witches and the mystery surrounding their murders would have been a far more interesting than what we actually get. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

librarianlayla's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Dark and twisting, this dark academia thriller grips you from start to finish.

I struggled to put this book down, it truly is a masterpiece for the mind. Disturbing and luscious all at once. A story within a story that unfolds not like a flower but like broken origami, sharp and crisp.

If you love psychological thrillers dashed with a hint of supernatural in a dark academic setting - then this could be for you!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol