Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

12 reviews

audalia's review

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Confinement, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Religious bigotry, Grief, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Addiction, Death, and Incest

thetearex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Death, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

soyboi's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.5

This book is one big Jesus allegory and it sucks. It’s not subtle. I never read Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I guess I expected more from the author. Not one big Sunday school version of his personal heroic fantasies. “The Hissing Lady” aka Satan, but let’s make her a woman because women are the root of all evil I guess. “Don’t go off the street, or they’ll get you.” aka the Xtian path. The main character’s name is literally CHRISTopher. 
Also, it bugged me that all these other characters, like Brody and Jenny and the librarian, are the Hissing Lady’s henchmen toward the end because they’re LITERALLY BEING ABUSED. Like, Jenny is being molested by her brother and when she’s under the Hissing Lady’s power, she wants to punish the brother. But imo, the little fucker SHOULD be punished. Why are we making that Satanic? Sounds like justice to me. Anyway, I’m not a fan of being beaten over the head with bible stories. Gag me. 
This book was LONG AS HELL. So much of it us extraneous details and the same words and sentiments repeated over and over. 
The half star is for the narrator of the audiobook, who has a great voice and was able to give each character a little something different. Props to her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Torture, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Murder, and Physical abuse

goodolmc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child death, Violence, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Murder, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Grief, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Torture, and Physical abuse

eternalbutt's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Death, Gaslighting, War, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Dementia, Rape, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicide, Torture, Abandonment, Classism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcoholism, Confinement, Blood, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Gun violence and Alcohol

glowbruise's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

stranger things and it and supernatural combined 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

seawarrior's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The strongest merit of Imaginary Friend is how it remains equally engaging page after page, which was a relief, since there are nearly a thousand of them. Chbosky's effort developing his characters is a key factor in the story's power. Lore wise, I was somewhat disappointed once all secrets were revealed, yet I was still satisfied reading Christopher and Kate's fight against evil. 

It's difficult for me to gather much more to say about the book since it's so expansive, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to others. I did think the horror was written well, but the true source of it felt trite to me and I'd really been expecting something more original. If you do read it please review the list of content warnings, which is nearly as long as the book itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and War

mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, Gore, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Ableism, Infidelity, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

lycheejelly's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Infertility, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Trafficking

camillesuzannes's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Medical content, Cursing, Dementia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Grief, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Ableism, Trafficking, Sexual content, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Incest, Kidnapping, and Sexism

Minor: Vomit, Pedophilia, and Slavery