Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Rivals by Katharine McGee

7 reviews

haleybre'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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Ableism, Drug use, Car accident, and Toxic relationship

aklovekorn's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Car accident, Dementia, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

haley_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.75

I liked this one a lot!! It posed situations that I didn’t see coming at all and I loved the character development as they solved their different problems. I’m rooting for all the characters to find their happy endings! Kinda annoyed with the ending though, we’ve already done the

people in hospital/sick/dying people thing already with the king and himari

so I hope McGee continues to find ways to keep it interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Car accident, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Colonisation, Death, Classism, and Pregnancy

rb5373's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

A really entertaining book (better than Majesty) but it still doesn’t quite live up to the first book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content

readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Medical content, Drug use, and Alcohol

missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

dogbuttsandbooks's review against another edition

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

2.75

Picking up where book two left off, we find the three youngest members of the Washington family, their partners, and friends at the League of Kings  — a conference (of sorts) that takes place every five years for royalty and heirs from around the world. 

To say this book was a disappointment would be a bit of an understatement. It took me nearly six weeks to finish this book because there was nothing engaging happening. Everyone was rehashing the same drama from book 2. 

What bothered me the most about this book is that every woman in this book was pitted against another. Don’t get me wrong, I do not subscribe to the brand of white feminism that says all women must support one another. But creating an entire book and universe about young women in power only to have them backstab and hurt one another is not what we need in 2022. 

On top of that, we have Sam and Marshall (future Duke of Orange) serving as the face of interracial relationships and race relations in America. But outside of one conversation between Sam and Nina, this book is completely devoid of actual commentary about race. Additionally, making Marshall’s family out to be the “mean guys” for not immediately embracing Sam and not following it up with a true apology from Sam is racist. I cannot recommend this book to people of color based on the portrayal of Marshall’s family. Again, it’s 2022 here. The real America is faced with white supremacy from top to bottom and people of color are being killed for the color of their skin. This felt completely out of touch. Readers, especially readers of color deserve better. 

I’m not sure what the goal of the book was here. The plot was extremely drawn out - so much so that I felt the last 50 pages of the book could have been the first 50. There were far too many perspectives and main characters to keep track of what was going on. This book needs a single main character, a clear plot, and a goal. 

My main question for the author and publication team is - you had an opportunity to reinvent America, and in this book, monarchies around the world, why did you choose to stick with one that’s overwhelming white, sexist, and full of unlikeable people? 

I received this as a ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy