Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

33 reviews

mmefish's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

2.0

*the rating is based solely on my emotional response.

This was a predictable read but predictability didn’t make it any less thrilling, though not in a pleasant way. In fact, it caused me too much distress. Please check the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Sexual assault

ebonyrose's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.75

This was a really solid slow-burn suspense novel. I think Sally Hepworth did a good job developing believable and interesting characters, while still encouraging the reader to wonder "who really are these people?" While I found the ending to be a little quieter than I expected for a thriller, I overall really enjoyed this one and would definitely read more from the author in the future. Good way to start 2022!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

rrubin97's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Twisty read where the twist is partially easy to figure out but still surprises at the end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infertility and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug abuse

kitty03's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

cait_reads_and_drinks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This was such a heartwarming and also deeply troubling story. I'm a sucker for unreliable narrators and this one did not disappoint.

The Good Sister is the story of Fern and Rose, who are fraternal twins. Fern works at the local library, dislikes crowds and loud noises, and is adamant about her routines. Rose for most of her life has taken on a sort of guardian role to Fern due to her sensory and social anxieties, and when Fern learns that Rose is unable to have a baby, she sees this as the perfect opportunity to repay her. Little does she know that her routines and life as she knows it will never be the same because of it.

The story is told from both Fern and Rose's perspectives, Rose's in the form of journal entries. I loved the dual perspectives and trying to determine which narrative was the truth. The storyline has a bit of a slow build but really takes off once it gets going.

Overall I really liked this one. It gave me major Eleanor Oliphant meets Gone Girl vibes and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoyed either of those books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion

littlebookcastle_sam's review against another edition

challenging dark 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: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

aimzthereader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I liked this book even more than The Mother in Law , I think Sally Hepworth is going to be an auto read author for me. I guessed the mystery fairly early in but i still really enjoyed the book. Most of the characters are horrible but I don’t mind that. I really enjoyed unraveling the truths form the lies and I enjoy unreliable narrators  . I felt the pacing was really nice and there were many times that I got so tense and so angry at the characters or what was going on, which for me is a mark of a great book. 

You will not like this book if you don’t like unreliable narrators or need to have redeemable characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment

reading_ladies_blog's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Unreliable narrator

opinionsofawolf's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

The ableism is specifically ableist against autistic people and people with a mental illness.

stephbakerbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

It's hard to say too much about this book without venturing into spoiler territory, but I'm going to do my best. I loved this story, and I think a lot of it had to do with the audiobook! The narrator was so good and I wanted to always be listening to her Australian accent haha.

The characters were fantastic. I loved the growth and development in our main character, and the romantic relationship was just adorable. I wasn't expecting a cute romance in a thriller book, but it's definitely there. The relationship between Rose and Fern was compelling and is really the backbone of this story.

I will say that the plot was a bit predictable--I figured out pretty early on where it was going to go and it didn't surprise me--but that honestly did not take away from enjoyment of the story at all. I was laughing aloud at a lot of it and grinning ridiculously at other parts and crossing my fingers that a certain character would get the happy ending they so clearly deserved.

All in all, I highly recommend this audio! Thank you so much to Libro.fm, Macmillan Audio, and the author for my ALC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault