Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

80 reviews

teatimewtrisha's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcohol

katsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

“Ex Scientia Ultio. From knowledge comes vengeance.” 

“The question isn't whether magic is real. It's whether I can touch it without being consumed by it.”

This book was alright. The dark academia vibes were spooky and fun. The fact that there was absolutely zero characters that were men was delightful. I didn't fully realize until the very end but every character either identifies as a woman or nonbinary. Loved that representation! I also really liked when the writing got a little meta. However, I found it slightly annoying when the author said something to the extent of "she touched me and I felt a tingle go down my spine" for the 50th time. Like find a new description, please. But ultimately, the atmosphere was this book's saving grace, for sure. The writing and plot weren't terrible. I found different parts intriguing but the first two-thirds or so were kind of slow. It really picked up in the last third but by then I had predicted a major plot twist so when it happened, it didn't impact me the way I expect it was meant to. If  YA thrillers and dark academia are your jam, you'd probably enjoy this more than I did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Alcohol

bookishgoob's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

I was really excited for this book, and it felt disappointing. i went into it with an idea of dark academia and left with gothic horror, which i guess you could say are similar. I wasn’t expecting a gothic horror, i was expecting a dark academia mystery. this book was slightly confusing at times, with an unreliable narrator. that can be great, because you never know what’s true but if done poorly, it can be confusing, hard to read, and not enjoyable. this teetered the line of poorly written and well written. having lgbt characters at the forefront was nice and the atmosphere was awesome. i was not expecting the animal death scene and that was kind of triggering for me. all around it felt like it lacked something. i’m glad i read it and it feels like a nice introduction to gothic horror but it also feels like you’re not missing much if you skip it. i gave it a 3.5 because the atmosphere was just really great and i did enjoy it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Outing, and Abandonment

cianarae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Very slow beginning, it takes awhile for something interesting to happen. The writing itself was just alright. I liked the mystery/guessing and the characters.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Racism, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, and Classism

alouette's review against another edition

dark mysterious relaxing fast-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

in the end, i don't think this book was my cup of tea, even though i love some of the author's other works. the purple prose was a slog a lot of the time, the twist was obvious, and the entire setup just felt sad. basically, a girl with many mental health issues gets manipulated by another girl with mental health issues, they treat each other poorly, things spiral into darkness, and in the end it doesn't seem like either of them got the help they needed.

Felicity's highly paid therapist doesn't even call her once!

it's layered with stories of witches/ghosts/the occult that don't serve any purpose except to make things fit a certain aesthetic, which feels very contrived. a lot of plot points, like the "cult" happenings, had no payoff, especially not for the side characters, who were very flat. i did appreciate the bits that dealt with Felicity's past and her previous girlfriend, though, and i enjoyed the ending!

gotta appreciate a girl who just kills off the person who's manipulated her and is blackmailing her instead of beating around the bush!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death and Murder

Minor: Abandonment

luisereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Vomit

flyingryndeer's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

oliverreeds'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

4.25

good. it’s just that it got slow sometimes. it could be repetitive but the set up was great and the characters were very compelling. the ending wasn’t predictable but it was hinted at and i liked it

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

gm_vak's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

albireotales's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship