Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

36 reviews

wickedgrumpy's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.25

This book was very much whimsical nonsense tied up in a mystery that was reminiscent of a studio ghibli movie.  You question what is real and what is not, if what has happened actually did happen.

There was enough mystery and world building to keep me interested in reading more, though the characters were a bit one dimensional they managed to hold my attention.

Other books I've read with this vibe did not have strong enough characters to keep me engaged and since this was a debut novel it has a lot of promise for what comes next.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

catching5tars's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

booking_along's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

reread 2023:

i don’t really have any other things to say or thoughts to add to my first ones. 

this is very strange.
sometimes very overwritten and too much and trying a bit too hard to not say anything while filling pages with nonsensical words. 

i love the idea and the characters and plot idea isn’t bad overall but i wish it wasn’t as flowery and nonsensically written in a way that one never really knows what’s going on and if something is happening or not.

it’s not bad but i think it’s a specific type of writing that you have to be a specific reader to love. 
as in if you don’t mind not understand how why or what even after finishing it all and having things described to you in colors for no real reason (dead is apparently purple) fantastic.

look i enjoy description and i like flowery writing but there is a point where i just want a clear answer to things. and in this first book that never really happens 


i will continue on with this series this time and see if this writing continues as it’s been done here or if at some point an actual story is being told in a clearer and more easily understandable way. 


first read 2018: 
3 stars 

this is such a strange book!

i really loved parts of it, but the other parts that i didn’t enjoy, those i REALLY did not like!

in some ways this book reminded me a lot of alice in wonderland. 

a lot of strange things are happening that make no sense and that are not getting explained at all. 
there are also way more overused stereotypes in this book especially gender wise than there should be especially for such a super strange book!

but the writing is so good, and the plot ideas that i could understand and made sense were fantastic... 

a very strange mixture!

i know that i will only define my personal option of this book - if i enjoy it or not- when i reread it someday.

for books this strange i need a reread to really form my option and decide how i feel about them.
or in other words: i need a reread in hopes that i will either understand more of it in that go around OR not like it because it will be just as strange and not understandable to me as this time around.

for now i can only say: super strange and over the top whimsical and unexplained reading experience!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

cherrygray's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

the immense detest i hold for donatella prevents this from being a 4-star read. the fact that it was incredibly inadequate and took me four months to read (my usual average for a 300-400pg book is 1-2 weeks) prevents this from being a 5-star read. anyways i would've loved more julian screentime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Minor: Confinement and Alcohol

atochelli_1980's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Blood

cady_sass's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

This is SO uniquely crafted and effective in world building. The storyline, however, leaves a little bit to be desired- it’s a little muddled and convoluted, and at times I found my mind drifting because I wasn’t staying engaged anymore. For the first half of the book I thought I picked an easy 5 star read for my first of the year! Alas, not quite. The back half of the book just didn’t do it for me, until the ending which i actually really liked. The love story (can you even call it that?) falls flat and feels contrived, the sisters dynamic isn’t fleshed out enough before all hell breaks loose, and the character arc for Scarlett from judgy and prude overprotective sister to heroine superstar with a backbone who can stand up for herself does not transition smoothly and feels undeserved. But it’s YA, and instalove is a thing (just not for me), and I will give credit to all the things I did love: the minor characters SOLD the entire experience, the exchange of “currency” for goods/information, the effective twisting storyline around who you can and can’t trust. I did overall really, thoroughly enjoy the ride and am looking forward to the next 2 books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

hungry_capybara's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.25

the book itself is okay, but the ending fell really flat for me. I couldn't guess that that was happening, and it just made her sister look like a horrible person who didn`t care about Scarlett and almost everyone Scarlett interacted with in this book seem like an absolutely horrible person. I really like the majority of the books though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood and Murder

alicia_g's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I liked this book, the plot was nice, with twists and turns and overall it was a pretty good read.

 

One thing I did not like about this book though, was that the ending fell very flat. I mean there was so much hype about the whole thing and in the end it isn't really explained very well, and she just loses all emotion. Another thing I didn't like was how suddenly towards the end of the book she just starts actually liking Julian, she goes from hating him to being ok with him and then suddenly she can't live without him, it just doesn't make sense.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This was CREEPY. Very clever and the synesthesia element was really cool and wow that ending but it was creepy and dark and heavy and emotional and maaaaan Tella was making me mad at the end!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

littlelindsey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

2.0

Interesting idea that is appealing because it’s so mysterious and fanciful. It’s really a dark story about a bunch of liars. Main character is loveable but everyone else sucks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Blood