Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

41 reviews

queendbw's review against another edition

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

4.0

Book #4 of 2023 - You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa. 

This is a juicy who-did-what-and-why tale - and the ending was quite unexpected. 

Amaya receives an email inviting her to the wedding of her ex-best friend (Kaavi) to her ex-boyfriend(Spencer).  She decides to go home to Sri Lanka to participate in the wedding festivities, but NOTHING goes according to plan - hers, Kaavi’s or Spencer’s.  

The author does a great job of giving just enough of the story to keep you guessing and the juicy background gossip is delicious!  I could totally see this adapted to film!  Great story, characters and ending!  4/5 stars

#readsof2023 #audiobookreader #literacy #readingisfundamental

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Misogyny

kylieqrada's review

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ok, I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel about this one at first. It gave me a little bit of White Ivy energy in the beginning, when Amaya was making what seemed like bad decisions with no clear reason and we were only getting part of her thought processes. However, the story and the characters were so intriguing that I kept listening, and it definitely improved. The big reveal hit me right in the feels. I thought that it was handled really well, too, from an own voices perspective. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Pedophilia

Minor: Pregnancy

abundance_of_fiction's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! Amanda Jayatissa did an amazing job of explaining nuances that might cause cultural confusion as well as developing characters that had depth. The twist though! To be honest you get a major hint about 30% in, and may figure out a part, but not the whole thing. It is great to follow hints and them not be red herrings, but there still being more than what you could see. Great alternation of narrators and overall a fantastic thriller. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Self harm, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

odrib's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Classism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, and Car accident

Minor: Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Outing, Cancer, and Child abuse

krisrow's review against another edition

mysterious

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence

Minor: Rape

karina_dreamsinwords's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

You're Invited is an engaging mystery that had me constantly guessing where the story was going & I am happy to say that it did not disappoint. The chaos and messiness of it all had me gasping and laughing out loud at the audacity!

The story follows multiple POV's as we try to unravel the mystery of what happened to the bride on the morning of her ultra glamorous wedding day. We start off with the female main characters POV months in the past and slowly count down to the wedding of her estranged best friend (to her ex-boyfriend no less). From the get go we know the FMC, Amaya, has only one goal in mind- to stop the wedding from happening. As the story unfolds, we get the POV of different characters involved in the lives of the bride & FMC as they are interviewed by private authorities. I loved this aspect because you really learn so much about the intricacies between characters, whether its friendship, romantic relations, or familial relationships. Not to mention learning some juicy secrets along the way!

The middle bit can seem a bit convoluted due to the big character list while keeping up with all the ins & outs of who is who (and who knows who, and who the heck is this person???) but I just kept it rollin' and was able to piece my confusion together. I will say that I thought the ending was a bit far fetched, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed the heck out of this!!

If you are a reality tv show junkie and love the DRAMA of it all, I think you will enjoy this too.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Pedophilia

tabby2920's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Mind blown after reading this one! The twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat. I really didn't know where this was going and I loved the ride that I was put on with this thrilling mystery. Fans of Lucy Foley and Gillian Flynn will love to read this one by Jayatissa!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

kcelena's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Classism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Cancer

marpaige's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Self harm

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Pedophilia

dhutton1997's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

For the first half of this book, I hated every single character especially Amaya. However, by the middle of it, I was hooked. So good and everything is wrapped up by the end and man will it blow your mind! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy