Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Dreadnought by April Daniels

10 reviews

teyn's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

3.75

I would've loved this if not for the gendered fatphobia and ableism that added absolutely nothing to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Violence, Fatphobia, Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Ableism

Minor: Toxic friendship and Sexual harassment

gameoftomes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Amazing. The book really gives a payoff for its superhero genre, transgender representation, and first person POV. It uses all of these well, and towards a conclusion with physical and emotional stakes involved. 

There are good action sequences, a bit of gore, and a good bit of body horror. But none of it overwhelms the novel. The supers don’t feel regurgitated and cliché. It feels like it could fit in with comic book superheroes, yet isn’t weighed down with tropes. The world of superheroes and hypertech is fleshed out without being exposition heavy. 

Warning that there is a significant amount of transphobia, including slurs, deadnaming, emotional abuse, and parents kicking out their 15 year old kid. But none of this stops main character Danielle from being super, from being flawed, from being a beacon of hope. Individuals are not a monolith, and I think at the author is transgender herself helps. 

This is a first person perspective YA novel that feels like you’re in the head of a real teenager. Danny clearly had reactions with a lot of self-hate because of how actively awful her dad is and how passively awful her mom is. So negative self-talk happens in stressful situations. Her journey as a superhero starts out as finally getting her body to match her gender identity, then fighting crime becomes an escape from reality, and finally starts to become a community, a newfound family. 

I honestly came in thinking I would be lightly enjoyable fun, but I’m really blown away with the characters, world-building, and balance of emotional, fun, and tense moments. I might have to break my book buying ban to grab the sequel. 

9/10 objectively a good time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Abandonment, Blood, and Body horror

phantastic's review against another edition

I didn’t like how one-dimensional some of the antagonistic characters were. Also, it felt like the book was misandristic in its effort to support trans women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Transphobia, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, and Cursing

Minor: Infertility, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Gun violence, Violence, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Blood, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Cursing, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Rape, Bullying, Fatphobia, Body horror, Deadnaming, and Vomit

nowjamie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Death, Sexism, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Emotional abuse

brassmonkey's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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? No

1.25

Not good. Also kind of insane that a book that looks and reads like it was written for middle schoolers says tranny so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Dysphoria, Outing, and Gun violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, and Homophobia

Minor: Fatphobia, Drug use, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

oneeyedjess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Toxic friendship

overbooked207's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

📖 Dreadnought & Sovereign by April Daniels Book Review 📖

3rd and 4th books of August 2022 and 20th and 21st of the year:

“I see a world that is terrified of me. Terrified of someone who would reject manhood. Terrified of a girl who knows who she is and what she's capable of. They are small, and they are weak, and they will not hurt me ever again.” - April Daniels.

These books have fantastic trans, lesbian, queer, abuse survivor, mental health/illness, anxiety, PTSD, and more representation, great writing and world-building, and inventive, well-written, and brutal action/fight scenes! If there’s anything I love in books, it’s complex characters, and this series' main character, Danny, is an especially amazing and complex character. The book showcases her bravery, power, resilience, anger, strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between in such a good way, and the characters felt so real. I liked the second book even more than the first, and I definitely recommend picking these up, especially if you love superhero movies or shows like The Boys, Invincible, Umbrella Academy, etc.! 

TWs for Dreadnought: transphobia, slurs, homophobia, deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, medical content, violence, parental/domestic/child abuse, homelessness/being kicked out of the house for being trans/queer, anxiety, death, dysphoria, cursing, bullying, blood, body horror, alcohol, alcoholism, self-image issues/negative internal voice, PTSD, sexual harassment, toxic friendship, and description of injuries.

TWs for Sovereign: transphobia, slurs, homophobia, alcoholism, self-harm, deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, misandry, medical content/trauma, violence, vomit, abuse, cursing, bullying, blood, body horror, alcohol, alcoholism, homelessness, ableism, kidnapping, torture, imprisonment, anxiety, self-image issues/negative internal voice, PTSD, mass death, and description of injuries📚🎧🦸‍♀️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Grief, Genocide, Body shaming, Body horror, Torture, Lesbophobia, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Deadnaming, and Cursing

wynterwonderland's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment

liddrose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

The beginning is a bit difficult to read because of the MC’s gender dysphoria, but 

that passes quickly after she gains the mantle and transitions

 This is one of my favorite superhero stories I’ve ever seen! The MC is complex and struggling but she’s a bright light, and it’s very enjoyable to watch her journey. I also appreciate how her most significant relationships are with other women and it’s really interesting how her understanding of herself and the world changes after 

she transitions and comes out

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

Minor: Toxic friendship