Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

6 reviews

candearangotobon's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dysphoria, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Child death, and Homophobia

Minor: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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

This is a hard book for me to rate. For much of the novel, Liam is struggling with their grief. Quite often, this manifests in them lashing out at family and friends. Which 100% is an accurate way to represent grief. It happens this way for a lot of people. But it's hard to read at times. And yes! A book about grief <i>should</i> be hard to read. But that also makes it difficult for me to figure out how to rate it.

I will say, the emotional aspect of this book was well done. You can almost feel the emotions through the page. However, as someone who reads for character, there weren't a lot of likable characters in this book, overall. 

Anyway, those are my rambly thoughts about this book. Overall, I think it's well written and hits emotional notes that feel raw and realistic. I'm just not sure it's a book I could read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Self harm

Moderate: Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Transphobia and Vomit

paintedpebble's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

A book hasn't made me cry in a while but this one did it. I just really loved reading a story about grief and what it does to you that I finished the book in one day. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Self harm and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

xoodlebooks's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Self harm, Death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Transphobia and Cursing

zucchinispades's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Car accident, Death, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

crackedspines_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-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

OVERALL: I adore this book. It’s one of the best books I’ve read. The complex, thoughtful exploration of grief + loneliness was beautiful. I cried multiple times while reading and used a ridiculous amount of tabs.
STRUCTURE: I really liked the dual, sorta-non-linear timeline. It made a lot of sense for this story.
THEME: This book explored a lot of complicated, emotional themes. It was a very authentic representation of grief, loneliness, and family.
WRITING: Mason Deaver’s writing was striking. They put so many elusive feelings into words so perfectly.
CHARACTERS: The characters were dimensional and unique and real - Marcus and Ethan both had many layers, as did Vanessa and Joel, but in a very different way. The characters had full, satisfying arcs and all felt like their own individual people. I especially enjoyed the raw, honest portrayal of Liam’s grief. He was not always a likable character in the most strict sense; he fucked up sometimes. But I liked them more for it. It felt REAL, to show them reacting that way to the loss of their brother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship

misgendering