Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

4 reviews

saara_ilona_muu's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Danielle Vitalis narrated this book in an incredibly monotonous tone. The story, itself, is very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Sexual content

utopiaandmelancholy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

This book is easily the darkest, most traumatic book I have read in a long time, so if there are any subjects you find difficult to read about, it may be best avoided. However, I adored it. The writing had me gripped. I found getting the perspectives of a number of different characters about the central events of the narrative and all the surrounding history really transfixed me to the tragedy of it all. I really felt for most of the characters, trapped in their seemingly hopeless situations - parts of Lala's story made me want to cry. The violence in the story is graphic in places (particularly Mira's chapters at the start), and yet so matter of fact in others. I also really appreciated Mira's storyline and thoughts, both for its exploration of grief, shock, and guilt, and for the way her mixed heritage impacts on her life in Barbados and in England. A heartbreaking and stunning debut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Rape, and Infertility

Moderate: Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Vomit, Abortion, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Drug use, Incest, and Toxic friendship

sarahjane1077's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, and Violence

jennikreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

5.0

 HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE tells the stories of a handful of people in an island town. Two very traumatic things happen right at the beginning of the story that set the stage for the story to unfold. It’s a little bit mystery and a whole lot character study. 

 

This is gorgeously written and I could not put it down. The story that unfolds is so layered and nuanced. I loved that Jones would slip in the stories of other characters, told from their perspectives, that we could easily assume we would only hear about from the perspectives of others. It gave such a rich entangled feel to the story and made your heart ache just that much more for the central characters. 

 

I was honestly very hesitant to read this one after hearing everyone who mentioned it shout from the roof top that it was brutal and the list of content warnings (right fully so) were endless. But, a fellow bookstagrammer spoke about it in a way that intrigued me and when I reached out to ask her about her reading experience. She assured me that it is not gratuitous. And that’s absolutely true. 

 

The violence and abuse in this book are absolutely unsettling, and will genuinely trigger some people, but they are not without context and they are never there for the sake of shock. While the content warnings span the entire length of the novel, there are definitely what I would call breaks from that type of content to let your mind breathe. 

 

All that to say, that if you, like me, were unsure whether this would be for you, give it a go, but please review the content warnings first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship