Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

12 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I've read nearly every book by Ruth Ware at this point, and it's only because I've been so stressed and overwhelmed recently that I can't spare the brain space for anything more complicated. I need Ms. Ware's super repetitive writing that reminds me of details several times, so that I can zone out a good bit. I was really surprised how many lists this book was on. I mean, this was fine. I did want to know what happened in the end. I predicted the villain pretty early. I also found the MC extremely annoying. And why is it so hard to get a MC who isn't a precious little size small with size 6 feet like a fourth grader. Like my god, why is a female writer trying to make her protag the smallest that a woman can be? I do appreciate that Imogen Church does her very best with the text though, every time.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Gun violence

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Medical content, and Sexual content

chelly_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic friendship

bessadams's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Outing, Abortion, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Drug abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Vomit

brookey8888's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Honestly absolutely nothing was shocking and it was painfully obvious. With that being said I did enjoy this and like the atmosphere. It was interesting to see the relationship dynamics. I loved Nina she was honestly my favorite part of this book. It’s your newer to thrillers I would recommend this, but if your not and are looking for a big plot twist and not just a good time I wouldn’t recommend this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Blood, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Vomit, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Outing, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

growintogardens's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I've read 2 other books by the author and loved them, but this one wasn't her best. I didn't like any characters, and Nora was not the smartest cookie. It was pretty easy to figure out the who/why of the mystery early on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Car accident, Mental illness, Grief, Medical content, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Pregnancy, Blood, Violence, Abortion, Cursing, and Vomit

necessary_rotting's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

2.5 - This book was fine. 
It is nothing I would discourage anyone from reading, but it isn't something I'd reach for when recommending to a friend. I didn't dislike reading it (although I found the main character insufferable), but it's not a story that will stick with me. 
As someone into thrillers and true crimes, it was a little too obvious. That being said, if you're looking for a quick read this isn't a bad choice. With this being ruth ware's first novel, I'll probably check out her other ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcohol, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abortion, Toxic relationship, and Outing

nota_candycaine's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

toofondofbooks_'s review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

This book is about a bachelorette party gone wrong: murder, mayhem, and spooky shit ensues. I have quite a few complaints about this one but as per usual, I want to start with positives because I like to be generous and also because I did like this book, there were just things I wanted from it that I didn't get. I thought the writing was lovely. Ruth Ware is very obviously great at building suspense, setting the scene for horror, and writing tense scenes between characters. Some of my favorite scenes were scenes where characters were fighting or bitching about one another. I lived for the drama of it all.

My main complaint is this: Reese Witherspoon says on the cover blurb that I'm going to be "really scared." I was not. This book undoubtedly had its moments where I was very invested in figuring out what happened, but there were such long stretches of pages where I felt that things were getting repetitive and if something didn't happen soon, this was going to go into the DNF graveyard. However, a lot of times, the moment I had that thought, something would happen; it just was never scary enough to make me feel anything. I also felt like after a certain point, it was really easy for me to put 2 and 2 together and figure out what the big twist was, which made the whole climax kind of a slog for me.

All in all, I do give this 3 stars because I think it was beautifully written, but perhaps not a favorite story for me specifically.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Mental illness, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Car accident, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

ellensmith's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

This book was impossible to put down and I hungrily devoured it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark tense

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence