Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Jak Wykiwać Hollywood by Ava Wilder

14 reviews

kaydeedickins's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Drug abuse

kerrythefire's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

3.5

I picked this up because I love a good fake dating story. But I didn't expect this to be quite as heavy as it turned out to be, so I think that threw me a little bit. I was expecting a romantic comedy and this was more of a comedic drama. The characters' trauma

and addiction and substance abuse and mental health issues

and the toxicity of Hollywood was believable and heartbreaking, it was just a lot. Especially the one major conflict scene at the end in the car after the interview. Oof. 

The plot and pace was pretty good. And it was nice to see Grey being soft and giving to Ethan, but standing her ground and holding her boundaries too. 

I may have rated this higher if I went in intentionally expecting a drama, but... I wasn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

headinthepages's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Mental illness, and Sexual content

katharina90's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Appreciated some of the heavier topics but it's pretty messy and most of the character growth happens off the page during time jumps which seems like a missed opportunity (or an easy way out). I also found the side characters more interesting and likeable than the main characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Grief, Alcoholism, and Addiction

kalynaobyrne's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.5

This book was a pleasant surprise for me! I went into this thinking it would just be a fake dating story but it ended up being so much more. Grey is trying to reset her acting career after not finding the success she hoped for after her teen drama ended and Ethan is trying to improve his image after falling out of the spotlight after the death of his close friend when they start a fake relationship for publicity. Their chemistry was fantastic and I loved their banter has they tried to resist their attraction to one another. 

This book is the perfect example of the right people but the wrong time with Ethan struggling with his mental health and addiction issues while Grey was trying to figure out how to help. But you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. I loved watching how these characters grew throughout the entire story. I really loved the side characters, especially Nora. I loved the friendship Nora and Grey were able to create. 

I think this book is more of a romance than a rom-com because it dealt with some pretty serious issues throughout the story. This was a great debut and I look forward to Wilder’s future books! Overall, this was a 4.5 for me! 

Thank you to NetGalley, Dell and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death

katekatiekait's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Vomit, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

lindsayerin's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Body horror

theespressoedition's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

Fake dating, celebrity romance, age gap, AND unexpected depth and emotion? Sign me up.

How to Fake it in Hollywood really wasn't what I expected. It continued to surprise me the further I read into the book. The beginning was cute, flirty, and filled with angst. The middle was romantic, steamy, and filled with conflict. The end? Well, I don't want to spoil anything, but it definitely sent me on an emotional rollercoaster.

If you have any difficulty reading about alcoholism, you will want to avoid this book. It's a major theme and takes up a great deal of the story. I personally believe it's handled really well. There's nothing fluffy about it. There's a lot of depth and discussion that I haven't seen in many other books that handle the topic of addiction. I appreciated it a lot.

All of the characters have struggles, but they're ones you'll want to root for. Even the secondary characters are wonderful. If the author decides to write companion novels, you can be sure I'll be reading them!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Addiction

Moderate: Grief, Car accident, Drug abuse, Bullying, and Vomit

Minor: Toxic relationship and Abandonment

kfmcf's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective 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

4.0

First off I want to say that I really enjoy Ava Wilder's style of prose. I think her dialogue is believably conversational and her descriptions are, well, descriptive without getting too bogged down. I appreciated this being a dual POV and genuinely don't think this story could have worked any other way.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, appreciated the candid look at what being a celebrity living in LA is like and the toll fame has on the human psyche. I think Grey was layered and fleshed out to feel like you really knew her but I think Ethan was missing just one layer more. 

I do think this book was too long. It was a 5 act story which isn't inherently bad, but the last act felt a bit phony. The continuation between the 3rd and 4th acts also felt a little too contrived but I like that it felt like fresh pacing overall. 

This book is funny, but it gets pretty dark in its depictions of addiction and mental health - which I appreciate but do encourage those with triggers to tread carefully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Drug use, Abandonment, Car accident, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Drug abuse

maryashlyn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse

Content warning:

Sensitive photos are taken and released of the main characters without their knowledge or consent.