Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

4 reviews

katiebella_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

5⭐️

Trigger warnings ⚠️ 
Animal abuse
Dog murder
Murder
Mutilation 
Blood

Mary is about to be 50, and strange things are happening to her. She is seeing things she shouldn't be seeing. Things that are disturbing. Everyone says it's "textbook " the change. Mary knows it's not. She knows she will have to return to her childhood home to learn the truth.

" I am just a story written in present tense. We all are. We are never finished. "

My Thoughts 

This book is disgusting in all the best ways. Not gag me gross but disturbing and vile. The story seeped into my marrow like an infection.

What hit me the hardest was realizing the whole book takes place in the span of 13 days. April 9th - 20th. It feels like a lot longer. If you're not paying attention to the chapters' headings, you might think it was months, the way the darkness crawls around you.

Wicker Man vibes. Purge vibes. Possession and cult vibes. All the horror vibes I could possibly want wrapped up in one amazing book. Dark atmosphere cruelly contrasts the light that Mary desperately wishes she lived in.

Mary is so well written. It's not often a man can write a woman this well. Especially a woman in the throws of perimenopause. This author has! I could feel and relate to her pain and frustration. She was real in all the best and worst ways. Multidimensional and not glossed over in femal perfection, a lot of authors try to portray.

Not only did he write one female character with depth and realism, but he also wrote many. In all walks of life. Teenage angst to elderly stubbornness. The attributes of the fairer sex are not lost on him. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Blood, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

odd_wan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective 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

4.5

I strongly advise to read the after thought of the author after you read the story. It makes the story so much more completed in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Misogyny, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Gore, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Body shaming

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

4.75

Akin to the works of Ottessa Moshfesh, this is an intimate, scary study of a disturbed character going through ordeals that are both relatable and horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Confinement, Fatphobia, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Torture, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Death of parent, Bullying, Violence, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Cancer, Animal cruelty, Ableism, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

Please be aware that there is ageism against middle-aged women, cult activity, family dysfunction, murder of a family member, and purposeful glorification of a serial killer.

eeefann125's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Cursing, Drug abuse, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Bullying, Death, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Violence