Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong

11 reviews

escapinginpaper's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

A coming-of-age story about the angst of teenage-hood, following a group of friends who struggle with their separate difficult home lives and traumas, and how they bond with each other and find commonality through playing together on their basketball team. The story focuses on two girls in particular: 

• Ren, an LA native, whose older sister struggles with drug addiction, and whose parents just got divorced over it.
• Luna, a free-spirited girl from Hawaii, who has to return there suddenly when her mother becomes very ill. 

Ren and Luna become fast friends one summer before high school starts, they bond over their mutual love of basketball and the ocean. Ren is upset with Luna's sudden departure back to Hawaii, and her lack of communication. When Luna returns later, she's ready to pick up where they left off, but Ren, not so much. They find themselves flung together when their impoverished high school starts a basketball team, and both they and others in their friend group all join. 

The narrative in this story felt a bit disjointed, and I had a hard time following it at times because of all the different plotlines, and sometimes, because of the art style, it was difficult to tell the characters apart. I also felt the resolution was too quick and simple, especially considering the main problems that took up the majority of the story.

I did enjoy the tenderness of the coming-of-age aspects, which felt realistic and relatable despite the experience of being a teenager is getting to be a while ago for me. Also, 10/10 for use of color in the artwork, this book is a scream of color and I really loved just flipping through. Color definitely acts as a divider for the story – as a scene or as the plot shifts, the colors change and I really enjoyed that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Bullying, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Dysphoria, Sexism, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, and Death

Minor: Blood, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Cursing

One of the characters is a minor who smokes, another minor consumes alcohol on-page through several scenes. Several of the characters (all minors) attend a house party. An overweight character struggles with bullying, body image and her relationship with food on-page throughout the book.

Another minor is depicted in a sexual relationship with a teacher, with on-page scenes involving kissing, and with off-page sexual activity implied.

One character commits self-harm on-page in reaction to an abusive parent.

Ren's sister is drug addicted and appears ~halfway through the book. She manipulates their father, emotionally abuses Ren, steals from them, and sets the house on fire at the end. It's implied her sister is in an abusive relationship with someone, but the abuse occurs off-page.

town_scar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Bullying, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Transphobia, and Drug use

raelin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

I am having a hard time trying to figure out what exactly I want to say about this, or how much I liked It. 

Because it was good. But so unsatisfying. I think that it was such a great high school slice of life, look everyone has really really heavy stuff going on, but we can still find light moments to enjoy. But it felt like such an untethered end where literally not a single issue is dealt with directly, resolved in any manner, or appropriately debriefed. 

So many CW triggers to review before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Infidelity

mrsdarcylynn's review

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

This comic looks at girlhood with a loving lens- all the ups and downs of being a teenager, in all its many different forms. This book is dark, but it’s also sweet. The author explores themes impacting teenage girls through her five protagonists. She explores body image, misogyny in sports, self-harm, predatory relationships, and not being in control of your life. She explores substance abuse and abusive relationships through these girls families. All of it done with a loving hand for the girls. Girls are precious and we need to do better for them. I really enjoyed this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Death of parent

eamily's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Dysphoria, Self harm, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Vomit

temporarilyhuman's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse

sienas_books's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Sexism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Fatphobia

seawarrior's review

emotional reflective relaxing 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

5.0

This is one of the most beautiful and striking comics I've ever read. The colors are incredibly vibrant and atmospheric, which helps draw you into the story of these girls from the very first page.

I loved that each of the main girls were written with messy, raw struggles that were shown to affect them individually, and the team as a whole. Watching them come to terms with some of the toxicity in their lives and their own mindsets and grow into stronger people was very rewarding. I also loved that the end of the book functioned like a new beginning for these characters, since they came to important realizations about themselves and their relationships but didn't neatly wrap up every issue they now knew they needed to approach. However, Ren's speech at the end of the story is inspiring, and left me with a sense of reassurance that she has developed a kinder perspective in life that will help her move forward from the trauma she has just endured and rely on others more than she was willing to previously.

All around I really loved both the writing and art of this comic. I'd go as far as to call it a masterpiece. I feel that it takes an incredible skill to write an ensemble of characters all with the complexities of real people, and to create art that sets mood and tone as well as Leong has in this work. I recommend this comic to anyone looking to experience a truly unforgettable graphic novel, and look forward to reading it again myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

vonni's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

Most of these graphic and moderate content warnings are either challenged by the main characters or explored in supportive ways (towards the survivors) by various characters.

emusing's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I just loved it. I read it in one evening, but I think I'll need to go back and revisit some of the more poetic parts at least. The art is beautiful and the coloring is a very cool, shifting monochromatic look in various bright colors. Some of the lettering is hard to read if you don't have good lighting, and I don't know if this is just me, but I had a hard time differentiating Jetta from some of the other characters for the first half of the book. I would be all for reading more about these characters, since many of them have deeper stories behind them, but the ending to the book was satisfying and hopeful. It didn't feel at all unfinished, and I just savored the friendships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Alcoholism

Minor: Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship

While I think the book deals very well with these dark topics, it portrays the character's struggles in a real and nuanced way that may be triggering for some.