Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

De laatste zomer by Dana Mele

4 reviews

mfrisk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

This book is a cheesy young adult popcorn flick. The comparisons made on the book seem fairly accurate and it definitely blends reality with the supernatural. I struggle with how I feel about this book because it had an interesting premise starting out and then there were a lot of flashbacks and then when it ends you feel confused but can also piece some things together. I had trouble though differentiating the characters at times and felt like the book could have been far shorter to have more impact with its ending. I’m not sure we needed every single detail given. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical trauma, Child death, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Alcohol

hollyk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My brain is spinning, I'm shook to the core, there's not a hero and a villain so much as a group of flawed individuals. Absolutely riveting, jaw dropping, twisty, turny, and hard to put down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Death, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, and Classism

simplyammee's review against another edition

sad tense 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

3.0

The idea is good but unoriginal and this definitely isn't a great, fresh spin on it. The writing itself isn't bad, the twists are probably good if you don't pick up on the obvious hint in the blurb. It wasn’t so in my face obvious that I hated reading it, but it felt like the blurb spoiled any chance I had at actually being surprised. 

The "Haunting of Hill House" bit in the blurb is a bit too on the nose that it makes everything kind of obvious...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Animal death

Minor: Vomit

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

 this was a serious mind f*ck, but also I figured out some of what was going on pretty quickly, so it was a bit predictable, though I didn't figure out everything. It was still a decent book though. I miss it had been more about mental health. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship