Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

7 reviews

carlyjoann's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Vomit

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Drug use, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Suicide

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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

hungry_capybara's review against another edition

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, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Murder and Blood

ieryka_magic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

2.75

So, as someone who reads a lot of YA, you would expect that this book, which's considered a classic on Booktok would be just my cup of tea. But honestly?

 The writing style might not be the worst, but it's slow, extremely boring at times, and there are random descriptions that aren't even entertaining. 

The characters, how do I even begin with them? Scarlett was just... Kinda boring? Like, I enjoyed her quest to keep her sister safe, but it was flimsy at times and kinda obsessive at others. Julian.... Julian was just toxic on so many levels. He swears constantly that he will stop lying to her, but he keeps doing it. Not to mention, Tella, to me, just seemed annoying. Just a spoiled brat. I mean, I got that Scarlett was the older sister who took on the role if a mentor, but Tella seemed a spoiled brat. Overall, I really didn't have a great connection to the characters, which is a HUGE minus.

The plot was...ok, at best. It could've been a lot better, a magic show where the real is just as confusing as the fake? But the book didn't play enough on that factor.

Overall, the book might just be considered...Boring?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol and Murder