Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

14 reviews

achay91's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Biphobia, Gun violence, and Drug use

booknerd_life's review against another edition

adventurous

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

3.0

This book has extreme insta-love, and the main character is a horrible bestfriend. Justice for Imani!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cultural appropriation

robyn_fenix's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gun violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Mass/school shootings and Toxic friendship

erikawynn's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-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

3.0

I loved You Should See Me in a Crown but insta-love storylines are really not for me! I feel like it would have been stronger if Olivia and Toni remained broken up and Olivia realized she needs to learn to take romantic relationships more slowly and not take her friends for granted .

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cultural appropriation

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

tahsintries's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

fig29's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

i found olivia to be so incredibly selfish throughout the book that it was honestly tough to read at parts. olivia did have some decent character development and in the last like 10% actually apologized to her best friend, but it took us way too long to get to that point.

i did like the little throwback to YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN by including mack in this.

the story overall felt like it was trying to include a lot all at once, and just wasn’t my favorite. additionally, this story took place over a 3-day weekend and toni was already talking about “falling in love” with olivia like 66% of the way through the book. the insta-love was very overwhelming.

overall, i loved the description of the music festival (as a music fan and festival-goer, the atmospheric description was 100% accurate). i’ve missed live music during this nightmare-world we’ve been in, and this was a nice release. i also loved the representation in the book and i am very glad it exists.

i likely would only recommend this to a friend if they’ve already read YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN, as i don’t think this should be anyone’s first dabble into leah johnson’s work, because she is better than this book shows.

(imani was my favorite tho i’m willing to go to war for her. loml. i want her to be happy all the time. we’re getting married in the spring and you’re all invited.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship

starlessnights's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

betweentheshelves's review

emotional hopeful medium-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

3.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. It didn't grab me like <i>You Should See Me in a Crown</i> did, but this is also a different story and a totally different kind of book. Yes, there was still a great romance and I loved that aspect of the story. Leah Johnson is great at writing character. Maybe I just wasn't a huge fan of the setting? I don't know! I'll have to give it more thought.

There were some plot points that I also didn't think were really needed for this particular story. I would have been fine with the book just focusing on Toni and Olivia's relationship and how it evolved over the weekend. The rest of the stuff going on with the festival kind of took away from that, and I wish that it hadn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

jennikreads's review against another edition

The characters felt inconsistent. They were doing things that the setup for their character made seem incredibly unrealistic, but were explained away by this being "completely out of character". Which felt really annoying because there was this whole setup for who these characters were and then it just went out the window. I also wasn't a fan of the way one of the main characters was repeatedly treating her ride or die best friend. Ultimately that dynamic is why I stopped reading. I have very low tolerance for toxic friendship dynamics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Grief

Minor: Toxic friendship