Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

18 reviews

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? No

5.0

Somehow a mix between Outlander, The Hunger Games, and 1984. But put it in space ✨ Sometimes the main character irritated me with his impulsivity and naïveté but then I’d remember he’s 17 so I’m sure that was on purpose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Slavery, War, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Animal death and Body shaming

Minor: Cannibalism

aelytacchan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I can't say I understand why Red Rising is a fan favorite. It wasn't bad, but its tempo is so gruelling that I almost DNFd it - saved only by the fact I already had all the audiobooks from a past sale.

I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, but I found a lot of it foul. I think that might be on purpose, but a lot of the violence seemed unnecessary and out of bounds even for the world's laws and customs.

Women were constantly used as symbols, to further plot points, or as convenient caretakers. Despite there being women peppered into the story, they were mostly inconsequential or, when they were of consequence, they just naturally decided they would rather follow Darrow.

I'll take some time to reflect on whether I want to invest more time into the following books, seeing as they're somewhat on the longer side, but as of now, I don't particularly feel like jumping into the next part of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

venus6277's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Death, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Child death, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

marla_arguelles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Confinement, War, Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Sexual content

jayhall's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

What a read! An incredible sci-fi adventure, and the beginning of what I hope will be a satisfying trilogy! Set in the distant future when humanity has colonised the solar system and separated itself into a rigid and insurmountable caste system, a protagonist rises from the lowest pits of despair to spark hope, only to fall continuously as he relentlessly climbs - hoping for change as much as revenge. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

garrettrook's review

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, and Sexual violence

tiaharbingerofdeath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

When I first started this book, I did not think that I would like the writing style at all but it quickly grew on me. I became very attached to the characters and loved watching them evolve. There is a strong theme of morality and what that means in this book and I felt that was captivating. Hopefully the rest of the series is just as good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and War

itendswithe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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? No

3.75

This book follows a boy crafted to lead a rebellion against a caste-based society that is reinforced by selective breeding. Also, it's on mars.

It starts with a close look at the rough life in a low-caste mining community before throwing you into a Hunger Games-esque war simulation.

This book has a great premise, but the level of brutality was hard for me.

I would recommend checking out this book if the description intrigues you, but maybe look at the content warnings before diving in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Slavery, Murder, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, and Medical content

Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Stalking, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Death of parent