Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

44 reviews

_bookishbrina's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Riley does it again! 4/5.

It took a while for me to actually get hooked on this book but once that was done, there was no coming back. the ending BLEW me away, I never saw it coming. 

Very entertaining! Definitely the kind of book that gets you out of a solid slump (you know, like I am).

TW: murder, alcohol, voyeurism 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcoholism

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

I liked the pacing of this book. It kept me entertained. And I like how the author handled the huge twist.

HOWEVER, my goodness! This book was messy and the big plot twists was outlandish and ludicrous. It was so out of left field and although I didn't mind it and it didn't make me angry I can completely understand why people would rate this low and/or dislike this book because of it.

I felt like the twist would've been awesome if the author actually forwarded/gave the reader hints throughout the book then maybe the twist would've been more effective. 

I didn't mind the female character, however, the withholding of information until the end made no sense considering we're already in her head anyways. And she was also picking another big secret from everyone else anyways so the author withholding said information from the reader made no sense.

The book just felt unorganized towards the middle-end because it felt like the author was jumbling multiple ideas at once and never wanted to just stick to one so he chose them all. Overall its not a bad book, but if you like thrillers that make sense and are symbolic through and through then you can skip this one. I did find it entertaining though so I'll give the author that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gun violence, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

espressoreader's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

1.0

This is what happens when an author has a bunch of ideas on sticky notes and then decides to chose which one to use by playing pin the tail on the donkey.  Unfortunately, the reader is the donkey in this scenario.  The plot of this book was about 3 different mismatched and then mangled story arcs that were never spliced.  

The alcoholism of the main character took too much time.  Does it happen?  Absolutely, but functional alcoholics are functional not constantly at the booze at the cost of other things, and dysfunctional alcoholics don’t make good narrators.  Too much of the main character’s personality was obfuscated by the addiction.  I am aware that it happens in life, but that does not render it a good person to select to guide the whole book.

Fail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Stalking, Grief, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

mlkreege's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

While this got me out of a slump, the ending felt haphazardly pieced together trying to fill in gaps left throughout the beginning of the story. I read the last 1/4 with one eyebrow raised. I’d recommend if you’re looking for a quick read with a wild twist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship

pookiee's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

for some reason, i like ‘alcoholic voyeur’ narrators, like The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window, and now this. the writing is nice and also refreshingly modern; the internet, social media, and entertainment industry are mentioned naturally.

there’s a

paranormal

twist which i HATE but in this case it aided the plot so it wasn’t too bad. but really that’s cheap when it’s not established it’s that kind of story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder

dreiwolken's review against another edition

3.5

i did not know this book hat a paranormal twist - and unfortunately I did not like it :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, and Toxic relationship

chhwang's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Suicide

batcaves's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Suicide

julied's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

isco1428's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This book was not in any way what I expected. There were so many twists and turns that kept me on my toes from start to finish. I don’t want to spoil anything but wow. What a solid finish — it’s rare that I like or agree with endings but this one was actually good. Not too beyond the realm of possibility but also not too “happily ever after”, either. I will definitely be checking out any other works by Sager!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Murder, and Suicide