Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

55 reviews

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Infertility, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Pregnancy

honey_coated_chapters's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•

𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 3//5

𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔: 258

𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: thriller/psychological thriller 

𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔: 

•unreliable narrator 

•converging timelines

•toxic friendships 

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆: soap operas, getting lost within a maze, unlikeable characters and quick chapters that you need to re-read to fully grasp the insanity of. 

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First and foremost, check the triggers because it gets pretty dark. It was unbelievably twisty, to the point that I’ve put it down and can’t even explain the book because I’m that confused. Not everyone is who you think they are and everyone has motive to do something terrible. A lot of things are setup to be meaningful but instead are just written off, which I guess is fine because it throws you off the real mystery’s track. However, when everything unravels in the end I’m left highly confused. 

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Of course, because it’s Alice Feeney — the book is written so well, the plot is original and terrifying, the side characters are mostly one dimensional but still add enough to the story to help it progress. I just wish it was more neatly tied up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

alekz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Insaaaaaaaane!!! Sharp objects kind of twists, kept me on my toes the whole time, and the narration was stellar. 
TW: abt ¾ the way through, there is an explicit depiction of r*pe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Murder, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Stalking

boba_n_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

This book started slow, but it really picked up towards the end. I loved the unreliable narrator that kept me guessing whole time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Kidnapping

pageafter_paige's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

This was a super quick read that kept me on my toes! I loved how the chapters jumped between diary entries from childhood, present time, and the week leading up to her coma. Even though the title is called Sometimes I Lie I was still fooled a few times hahaha but overall I felt the ending was predictable once a certain big secret was revealed. I do love Alice’s writing and I find it super engaging. I’m not a huge fan of how it all ended in the last chapter but overall I enjoyed the story! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence

laurensm_th's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Medical content, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Excrement

harper_simmons's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book and the way it’s written. It has separated chapters from when the character is in the coma, before she got into the coma, and when they were younger. 

The whole book I was questioning who actually did it and I was shocked with what happened. The ending left me confused and wanting more.

I had moments where I had to go back and reread with more information that I was given so it made me take longer to read. 

Overall, amazing read. Would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Mental illness

velvetreads_'s review

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Death of parent, Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Murder, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Infertility, Addiction, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Drug abuse

pookiee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

Feeney’s casual writing style and ominous fortune cookie slip phrases make the pages turn fast, as usual. however, this is her debut, and the writing is not as good as in her more recent books.

I dislike reveals that are basically

”bitches be crazy”

, hate

rape

used as a plot device, and there also was not much lead-up to some parts of the explanation. I liked the very end, but then the very very end ruined it for me bc I find

ambiguous “hehe they might still be alive” cliffhanger

cheap.

most English language books I read are American, so a British one is a nice change of pace. I liked seeing all the Britishisms!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Medical content, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Vomit, Fatphobia, Infertility, Murder, Alcohol, and Miscarriage

Minor: Animal death, Excrement, and Adult/minor relationship

clrouse's review

dark mysterious fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Death of parent, Abandonment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death