Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

38 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

First read - DNF: I am not going to like Jane. She is so snarky and sarcastic and caustic and that will not be fun.
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I revisited this one because I was reading other things by the author, and I thought that I should give it another shot. I tend to be much too precious about Jane Eyre retellings haha I thought this was pretty fun in the end. It didn't try to stick too closely to the book, which I appreciated. Not at all bad, in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Infidelity

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Sexual content

lindseybarnett's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence

puddleshoes's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

little_water_droplet's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This went everywhere I didn't think it'd go. The author does seemingly forget and then remember their dog throughout the book. I picked this up without reading the synopsis or anything about it. The title just sounded interesting.  The end is satisfying but also the exact opposite if you like all plotlines to be all wrapped up. The main character is unlikeable yet endearing. Every character in this book is like that, though. It's 4 am now, so I would like to sleep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Stalking, and Death of parent

brittanyisbooked's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

navayiota's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A really enjoyable and engaging read! I loved all the plot twists and secrets, and the way the characters interacted and thought. Maybe I liked it cause it was so obviously inspired by Jane Eyre, one of my favourite books ever, although I didn't notice the similarities at first. I wish we could have learned a little more about Eddie and Jane's pasts, but I was really satisfied with the amount of backstory Bee got. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident, Grief, and Medical content

ri_lei_gh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Infidelity

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Murder, Confinement, and Alcoholism

Minor: Toxic relationship and Child abuse

This book gave me more Rebecca vibes than Jane Eyre, and I kind of wonder if I would’ve enjoyed this one more if I didn’t know this was supposed to be a Jane Eyre retelling, because I kept comparing the two. While it was certainly gripping, I didn’t have any “wowee” moments. If you like unreliable narrators, multiple povs, and gothic fiction-inspired stories, then this is for you!

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Murder, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Confinement

sara_day's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Fire/Fire injury