Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

10 reviews

lri_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

I thought the book was really good! I didn’t really see the point of all the Simon content before each chapter, I didn’t really understand how it related to each chapter but maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention to it. There were some little things that I felt took away from the ability to be immersed into the story and connect with Cath but I found her and the other characters relatable enough that it didn’t matter. Overall, I really liked this book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit and Violence

peachg3m's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

this has always been one of my favourite books, it’s heartwarming and well as heartbreaking here and there watching the relationship of cath and wren grow and change, the development of cath meeting levi and reagan (reagan supremacy) and growing into herself. i also think the loving relationship cath has with fan culture and community is comforting to see

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Abandonment and Toxic friendship

Minor: Forced institutionalization

gymbeannz's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic friendship, Incest, Sexual content, and Vomit

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

hopeful slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Ableism, Medical content, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

breadbees's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Medical content, Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Grief, Toxic friendship, and Addiction

risten's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Abandonment

Minor: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

crufts's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

I picked up this book one morning, and was pleasantly surprise to find myself having blitzed the entire thing in less than a day. It is good.

The premise of the story is established in the very first page, an imaginary Wikipedia article about the Simon Snow series - a seven-part fiction series that's effectively this world's equivalent of Harry Potter, having sold millions of copies, spawned seven movies and achieved worldwide fame.

Meanwhile, our protagonist Cath is a big-name Simon Snow fanfiction author. Her magnum opus fanfic is Internet-famous; but in real life, she's a nobody. The world of fandom is comfortable for her, whereas her new world of college life is unfamiliar, frightening, and worst of all, real. With a group of college roommates, friends, and classmates around her, Cath is thrown into this new world and has to learn how to deal with it.

Amongst its many fine points, I adored Fangirl's depiction of anxiety. The author takes Cath's irrational fears and writes how they twist and bend to become rational and believable, showing the true, internal experience of anxiety.

How can [my roommate] just fall asleep like that with a stranger in the room?

The depiction of mental illness and mental disabilities in a few other characters was also sensitive and realistic.

It also made me laugh that the Simon Snow series had all these parallels with Harry Potter, tiny details that fans will enjoy:

[They were watching] Simon Snow and the Selkies Four [i.e. the fourth movie of the series]. All the actors had longer hair in this movie.

I liked that we actually get to read many, many excerpts from the Simon Snow series. It's not just a handwaved plot device that we have to believe; we get to see for ourselves why it charmed so many people. (It was a bit odd that the Harry Potter series also existed in this world, though.)

Fangirl ended a little abruptly, with some of the climactic crisis decisions being resolved in less than a page - e.g. the conclusion of Cath's university fiction writing course was resolved in a one-paragraph text excerpt. However, perhaps the author knows this because she added a little FAQ section to this edition, answering the questions of what the characters got up to after the story. A little odd, but hey, it worked.

I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you will too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape and Toxic friendship

Rape is mentioned briefly in a discussion of the risks to college students.

jc_wb's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

Really loved this book. It was highly recommended which is usually a bad thing for my expectations. 

Cath was really well written, I loved the book in a book of the fanfic/Simon Snow books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Mental illness

Minor: Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

19becky97's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

starlessnights's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, and Genocide

Minor: Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content