Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Insatiable by Daisy Buchanan

10 reviews

cecilialau_'s review against another edition

4.0

This was very much a page-turner for me. And I’m still surprised by that to be fair - bc “white woman is unhappy“ isn’t always done well or interestingly tbh (e.g. forced relatability or she’s just spoiled). So I don’t reach for those stories often, but I though this one had a bit of a twist to that and the contrasts of rich/poor was the focal point in many aspects.
A flawed main character - a general thing with these ppl and realistic, and some you really “disliked” with a passion. Enjoyed how and what we got to know about her.

- I really wish the blurb said less btw. At least the penultimate paragraph needs to go… I try to only read the first paragraph in the blurb and then I might read more of it once I’m “in” the story, otherwise I feel it spoils the fun of exploring when you first sit down with it if you know too much or the blurb takes your expectations in the wrong/an unnecessary direction.

Anyway, there’s loads of sex, hence the erotica descriptor. Which I think explains (at least to some degree) the “low” rating bc some ppl are just a bit prudish when you read through some of the reviews, let’s be honest….
I’d say a very intriguing, exciting and frustrating story about actually considering our worth and self-esteem.

(A few things said e.g. about ending your life that I wasn’t too sure about in terms of phrasing though.)

THRILLED that Nadia came back into her life and she seemingly made some great (conscious) choices in the end. Love that for her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Abandonment, Child death, Toxic friendship, Grief, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

yellowpurple500's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I found the links back to the wedding storyline interesting and I enjoyed the character development of Violet. However, the rest of the book fell a little flat for me. I found the other characters a bit dull and not fleshed out enough, especially all the male characters.

For an erotica I found myself rolling my eyes a lot at the sex scenes. It felt like if someone just looked at Violet she came. There were points where someone barely touched her and she was at the point of orgasm. I get this woman is horny but CALM DOWN. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction

marlee_grace's review

adventurous challenging hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense 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

4.0

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, very sugary and steamy. In was an easy listen, I breezed through it, but wouldn't say it's my favorite :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Infertility, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Child death

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.25

I did expect more from this but it was still an entertaining read. 

The bad decisions by the MC got a bit annoying, and the sex scenes were frankly bizarre, starting and ending very suddenly. Plus the MC came within about four seconds every time which just made the entire thing feel even more unrealistic. 

It has some interesting things to say about rich people/the art world but when getting down to the nitty gritty story I was dissatisfied. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexism, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault

foxonabook's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

1.0

I picked up this book because it's different from what I would usually gravitate to. I thought this would be a more erotic version of Sally Rooney's books, but what I got was smutty fanfiction masquerading as a queer contemporary novel. 

Violet is a lonely 26-year-old millennial stuck in a dead-end job and drifting aimlessly through life. Until one day she meets the mysterious and attractive Lottie and her entire life is upended within the space of a few days. Literally. A few days. Is the reader truly expected to believe that anything portrayed in the book is plausible? 

Surprisingly, the poorly written sex (which, if I'm being brutally honest, is better described as written by a teenager whose only source material is really cheap and unrealistic porn) wasn't my biggest bugbear. It was how incredibly unbelievable Violet was portrayed. Perhaps I'm not the target audience, but, geez... this was the second contemporary millennial chick-lit that I read where I felt millennial women were very poorly, one-dimensionally and stereotypically portrayed. Violet has no redeeming qualities.

I was also infuriated by some of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it themes that Buchanan clearly included as a tick-box exercise, such as the eating disorder, coercive abuse, sexual assault, etc. 

Don't bother with this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, and Mental illness

jodierose14's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

sib_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, and Cursing

Moderate: Child death and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use

hulkytwobelts's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death

daisyvb's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

It's like Sally Rooney read Bridget Jones and said hey what if she was in her late twenties, went through a bit more trauma, and actually got some every other day

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse