Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

273 reviews

laislinns's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Twists and turns abound in this murder mystery. And I caught onto most of them early on. But there was one twist that I didn't see coming that raised this from a 3 star read to a 4.

The writing was great, the story keeping me turning pages long after I should have turned off the lights and gone to sleep.

I'm not sure whether I'm going to give The Hunting Party a try though. As well paced as The Guest List was, and as much as one twist caught me unawares, I also feel like the rest was... generic? The scene and characters mattered less than their role in the bendy storyline if that makes sense, and I am left with the feeling that The Hunting Party will be much of the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Self harm

tibbettsn99's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a suspenseful thriller, though I partially predicted the plot twist.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

mikitiale's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I don't normally read mystery books but this one was fine. I'm not well read enough in the genre to judge whether it was a well written murder mystery but I will say I wasn't suspecting the culprit.
The audiobook was great because each point of view was narrated by a different reader which helped differentiate characters more easily.
It should be made known that there is a lot of potentially triggering content involving self harm, suicide, and abortion as well as content warnings for alcohol and drug use.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, and Alcoholism

tabea1409's review

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit

katikins's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A story trope that’s familiar, told in a jaw dropping way. The narrators did a fantastic job of bringing each character to life, exposing their secrets as it all unfolded. I canceled my plans to finish this book. Recommending wholeheartedly!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Child death, Grief, and Eating disorder

rehearsal_collection's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Way darker than I expected. Very tense and gripping. The characters aren't really loveable, but you do feel some compassion for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: Abortion and Vomit

soefeeah's review

challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

It was really hard to get through this book for me. It was almost a DNF. I had to get the sparknotes to get excited about it cause i had no idea what what happening, what the point of it all was, where it was going, all of the characters were shady and ominous as fuck and i didn't like any of them except Hannah, kind of. I found my self skimming and skipping so much of the scene setting. Idk. Maybe cause I went into it not knowing what to expect. Not for me. Though I see the Agatha Christie comparison. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Child death, Abortion, Alcohol, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

cfarron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Murder, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

chemistreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This thriller/murder mystery definitely kept me guessing until the end - I had some inklings of what may have happened here and there but definitely didn’t put it all together. It was intriguing not knowing whodunit or the victim until the very end. Early on the book was slow with poor character development. I really wish there had been one more chapter to tie up the loose ends with the characters. The ending felt rushed. Also some of the “trigger warning content” was annoying and not necessary and thrown in for the shock factor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Murder, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Vomit

amandareads666's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Self harm, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Abortion, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Drug use