Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Out of Love

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

nclausel25's review

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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abi_dutton's review

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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catandherbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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temi1008's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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lizaxwin's review

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emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

The concept of this book is so unique and intriguing. However, I found it a bit difficult to basically read the story from end to start rather than the other way around. I found myself thinking of reading it in the opposite direction if I should ever pick up this book again and I‘ll probably do that sometime.

This book deals with so many important topics and so many horrible people (all or at least some of which all of us have had or sadly will have in our lives sometime or another). Theo was a walking red flag basically, although a lot of his toxic behaviour nearly went undetected. This, imo, was one of the strength of the „upside-down“ storyline. You knew what to look out for.

I‘m still unsure if I find it infuriating that we never find out the protagonist‘s name or if I think it‘s a clever way of showing that every woman could be her.

All in all, a clever story with lots of depth, ma be a few pages too many and definitely a book which practically screams to be read at least two or three times to be grasped in its entirety.

(Definitely check trigger warnings for this one)

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lizziewilson's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Loved the writing style, hilarious and very tongue in cheek. I thought it was a really interesting choice to go backwards through their relationship and I wasn't really into it at first because I felt like I already knew what was going to happen. I was proven wrong, it was a great read that masters the bittersweet. Looking forward to Hayes next book!

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catarinagsr's review

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reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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sidekicksam's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

5.0

I am obsessed with this book and I love everything about it. How we gradually learn to love both the unnamed main character and her ex-boyfriend Theo more throughout the book, how the events unfold during their relationship, and how in the end, you both feel happy and it all falls into place.

The main character and her struggles, the fear of sliding down the same (mental health) path as her mother, the instability of Theo's mother and the strain it put on the relationship. Everything just felt so relatable (I might exclusively start reading work by Irish authors and always recognize myself in the story) and that made the book really click with me.

As the author also states on the back of the book 'she could think of nothing more horrific than love', and this book portrays love so beautifully and realistically. I will be thinking about this one for a long time to come.

If you loved Cleopatra & Frankenstein & Normal People, give this one a go too!

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