Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

81 reviews

linnea's review against another edition

I just didn't care for the characters for the plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit and Murder

bookishfaye's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

🍃 positives:
- I adored the sapphic yearning dear God
- The actual academia portion of the dark academia vibes I adored as an English major myself! all the thesis statements I found so fun!! Also the literary references were 10/10, & the method book writing was awesome
- also the dark academia vibes in general lol 
- the focuses on sexism, gender, white privilege, & sexuality I loved
- I loved the “unreliable narrator” vibes throughout the story & was constantly unsure of who the “bad guy” was.
- I am so obsessed with Ellis’s character and how interesting she is  
- the psyche of both Felicity and Ellis were just so interesting to dive into on top of the connection they had & their own personal ✨issues✨ 
- the Lesbian MC & love interest rep, & non binary side character rep :)) <3
-the witchy vibes were so fricken good

🍃negatives:
- there were definitely some aspects of the plot/character that were predictable/cheesy and it wasn’t a perfect book; however, I adored it so much that any “issue” was so minor to me that it didn’t make a difference to how I felt overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

laurenleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A haunted girl’s boarding school in upstate New York that was founded by daughters of Salem witches? Sapphic plot lines and murder mysteries? SO into it. This was definitely a fun quick palette cleanser that was much needed after a lot of intense reads. Not that this also isn’t intense in its own dark way, but in a faster-paced YA manner. If you liked A Secret History, Plain Bad Heroines, and If We Were Villains, you gotta check this out. It really had elements of all three novels, blended together nicely. It really got me in the mood for Fall, even though that season doesn’t really exist here for another two months, if at all. My English major brain ate it up when they talked about their thesis topics and research. I totally want to live at Godwin House, just maybe with different girls that aren’t so twisted lol. I also loved the casual inclusion of a non-binary character. Representation is so majorly important, but it’s especially important when done in this way, highlighting how normal it is to identify outside of the binary. I believe the author identifies as queer and trans. I’m happy to see that the dark academia trend is still going strong. I’m so here for it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

luxvestravitae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

cassie12_21's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

bibookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

5/5 Stars ⭐️: A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee is a bone chilling YA Horror/Thriller that will leave you speechless. This Sapphic Dark Academic story will have you up all night until you devour every single page only for you to be left yearning for more of Victoria Lee’s incredible writing. This spooky story weaves together murder mysteries with historic witches and dangerous occult knowledge. I highly recommend this for anyone who needs a good scare! This book is perfect for fans of Ninth House, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Witch. This haunting atmospheric read will have you looking for ghosts over your shoulder every time you turn the page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Eating disorder

whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship

bassbotics's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

Thanks to Delacorte Press for the free advance copy of this book.

- Lesbian. Dark. Academia. Need I say more?
- Okay okay, I'll say a little more. I loved falling into the history and mythology of Dalloway with Felicity. A LESSON IN VENGEANCE had me second guessing myself, mistrusting everyone, and watching helplessly as the train jumped the tracks.
- I have some minor quibbles with the pacing, but when things get going, they REALLY get going. There are a couple points where new information is dropped and my jaw dropped along with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol