Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

280 reviews

sunny_not's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book didn't pull me in till the middle part where things started to get messy. First hundred pages or so were so boring that I thought about DNFing this book. However, I held on and I'm glad I did it. It was satisfying how everything connected and came into an end.

I am not truly satisfied with the ending though it felt so abrupt and I really wanted to see Hannah and Will's confrontation. I wish all people who suffered at the hands of that horrible man could've come together and plan his m*rder rather than the planner doing it and Johnno being blamed for the death of Will. I also truly hated Charlie he is the worst right after a literal demon called Will and his buddies. The way he treats Anna and the way he and Jules act with each other I hated so much. I also hate Jules for the suffering she made Hannah and her sister go through.

Overall I liked it but the ending could've been better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

deb_is_reading's review

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? No

2.5

 Author did some things that were some of my personal pet peeves. Overall the experience was fine. But the follow are super subjective but I just hate in my mystery/thriller reads.

1. Overly ominous one liners at the end of chapters to add suspense, specifically if that is the author's only attempt at adding suspense. This was more apparent at the beginning of the book. I don't expect authors to have thrills right out the gate chapter 1, especially if we still need to introduce characters/setting. So it's really jarring when a chapter is spent talking about work, marriage, children, backstory etc. and the final sentence in the chapter is something like "Little did I know, even he keeps secrets from me." DUN DUN DUN.

2. Not everything has to connect back together. Pretty self explanatory. I don't want to explore into spoiler territory so I'll leave that there.

3. Time jumps that add little to nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Drug use, Abortion, Bullying, Grief, Sexual content, Death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse

bethanie_l's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

I really enjoyed this book. I read some stuff other people said about it after finishing and I get their complaints, but I really liked the different narrators and the twists. Maybe it worked better since I listened to the audiobook, I really liked that it was a full cast instead of a single narrator. I gasped many times while listening and cried a lot too. I liked that we not only didn't know the killer, but we didn't know the victim until near the end. I went back and listened to different bits after certain reveals and it was really satisfying. There was one single twist I could've done without, but it didn't spoil anything for me. I wish the characters had been a little less one-dimensional and there were really only 3 characters I found likable, but I don't need my characters to be likeable. I do prefer when they aren't just tropes, but I still think the mystery itself made that okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Self harm, Child death, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Blood, and Abortion

sari_lyr's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, Alcohol, and Self harm

Moderate: Pregnancy, Bullying, Infidelity, and Abortion

Minor: Body shaming

gbeene's review

adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Child death, Dysphoria, Cursing, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

zahra83's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

Kind of predictedable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

kinz_k's review

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

nzmerchant's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Another solid murder mystery from Lucy Foley! She’s a genius! The way the story unfolds and things are revealed. I absolutely devoured this.  The main characters were so well written and I felt so strongly for Jules when she spoke of wanting her mom to say she was proud of her, and her mom instead saying she was proud of herself for raising Jules. Thought Olivia was immensely mopey but when the grand reveal took place - I was winded. Could have done without the

Charlie-Jules cheating

plot line but alas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, Bullying, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abortion

israelsheikh's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This gripping thriller rekindled my love for reading. Foley skillfully weaved intricate details about characters that culminated into a shocking finale. The author expertly invites you to question every death scenario, only to defy expectations with a brilliantly unexpected conclusion. The seamless intertwining of information creates a tightly-knit plot, ensuring that no chapter feels wasted. A short yet engrossing read that caters to your detective instincts, leaving you hungry for more mysteries to unravel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Alcohol, Mental illness, Classism, Bullying, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Grief, Drug use, Death, and Addiction

xopantherxo's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Eating disorder, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Self harm, and Toxic relationship