Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

10 reviews

beanaroni's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Slavery, War, Blood, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Cannibalism

pankadoll's review against another edition

Warnings for these 18 first percent are amazing :) I love a good powerplay in a fiction relationship, I repeat, LOVE it. I tried to push through but it's no fun and a nauseating read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic relationship

lanarkunas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Graphic: Body shaming, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, War, Vomit, Sexism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Child death, Classism, and Violence

theflowergarden's review against another edition

dark medium-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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death and Gore

wordsbyzahra's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? No

3.0

This wasn't the book for me. I can appreciate the writing. There are certainly some beautifully crafted passages in this book, but I suppose, it was not what I expected. Contrary to some reviews, particularly included on the blurb of my copy, I did not find this romantic. This is a story about many things: death, love, life, suffering, war, and the ways in which the impacts of war on people tend to manifest. I enjoyed the immersion of Russian fairy tales into 20th Century Russia, but I did not enjoy the exploration of the relationships between Marya and Koschei nor Marya and Ivan. Essentially I did not enjoy the supposed 'romance/love story' which was one of the main reasons  picked it up, in addition to the immersion of Russian Fairytales. I'm disappointed that I did not enjoy the story as much as I anticipated, but I think that is more of a 'me' issue. This just wasn't the book for me.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

cedence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, War, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Animal death, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Cannibalism

shimikonde's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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

A beautifully-written book that combines Soviet Russia, Russian folklore, and the cold realities of war to talk about the relationship between life and death. Definitely worth reading at least once.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Gaslighting

Starvation as a result of war is also described in significant detail.

abominablesnowaro's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, War, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Starvation

dwellordream's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

lasbrumas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

A short review for this one.

It should be noted for anyone reading this for the first time, there are times this book gets mildly NSFW (spoilered for that content)

with some mild BSDM-like scenes and one scene where Marya has sex on a desk

though its not extremely explicit. There are at least 3 instances I can think of, though there may be more. I was surprised to come across it so be warned!

The prose was excellent, so I couldn't find complaints there. I will say that based on others' reviews and stuff I saw on Tumblr, I went in expecting a much different book, though. Despite that, I wasn't disappointed, really? The way the book is written is much more reminiscent of fairy tales than any standard novel with a hero's journey or similar plot. There's a sort of circularness to the plot and a timelessness, despite the book's events being set during WWII. I could tell Valente really did her research into both the fairytales and the culture and setting of Russia during that time period. Even the tiniest detail felt like Valente had worked on getting it as accurate as possible. I'm not Russian though, so I would be interested to see what others from there think.

Honestly, the only reason this isn't a five is because the book didn't blow me away. It was written well and culturally rich, but in the end the plot was just okay. The characters I can't say I liked? But more in a sense that I would never want to be their friends. They're all pretty terrible people, but that's the point. They are as mean and nasty as they can be kind when it comes to it.

Overall, would I recommend it? Yes. Would I call it the greatest thing I read last year (even if I only just finished it this year)? Not really. I much preferred the immersiveness of other books. But in the end, it's not a bad book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content