Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

76 reviews

lunep's review

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Mental illness, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Dementia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Stalking, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

lovetlr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Complex and a little hard to follow but excellent twist 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Death

Minor: Miscarriage

macaronsandmermaids's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Dementia

amandaweis05's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Dementia

leofro's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Alcoholism

astridrc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

So, this was messy but in a good way. I knew there was a twist coming but I didn't expect this one, which is very welcomed to say the least. When it comes, you need a few moments to run through everything in your mind and put the pieces of the puzzle together. Overall, I really liked it and it's quite original, so good job Beth O'Leary. She hasn't disappointed me yet.
However, it did feel a bit long to me since we start getting answers like in the last third of the book. Also, I didn't feel Joseph's and Jane's chemestry that much? I feel like I should re-read it now that I know the whole story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Death

epellicci's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

 My least favourite Beth O’Leary book. I was more interested in following the chemistry between Miranda and Aj than getting to the bottom of what was going on with Joseph for most of the book.

I had began to suspect that the timelines didn’t quite match up, and found myself disappointed when that turned out to be the big twist. Joseph and Siobhan’s past was emotional, but it didn’t make up for spending over 70% believing he was cheating on these women, and I simply wasn’t invested enough in him to find the conclusions to the book satisfying. Also, while it was a very neat and tidy ending, it frustrated me that Joseph’s happy-ever-after came back to a woman who shared a connection with Siobhan.

As I said, not my favourite. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, and Grief

Minor: Dementia

laurenvoice's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

The blurb on the back of this book does not do it justice; there is much more to the story than it lets on!

The No-Show was filled with funny and heartbreaking moments, and the twist was spectacular. It was easy to catch on what the twist would be early on in the story. However, Beth O'Leary keeps the mystery alive with a few red herrings. Although The No-Show had some emotional scenes, the ending was full of hope and a lovely home-built library. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, and Self harm

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, and Dementia

lindsay424's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Spoiler-this is my favourite book by Beth O'Leary that I have read so far. The writing for this was extremely clever and I didn't see the plot twist coming. Once the plot twist was revealed it was clear what why one of the main characters was doing what he was doing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Stalking, Self harm, Cursing, Dementia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

nyree42's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

3.5

This starts off as the kind of novel where you don't understand what's going on and then start to hate the cheating bastard who appears to be leading three women on at the same time...

Or is he?

You might get immersed in the tale, hoping it's a revenge fantasy, waiting to cackle with glee once the philanderer gets caught in one room with all the women, who then realize exactly what he's been doing...

But wait...

At the last section of the book, suddenly the reader is thrown for a loop when they are shown that they were NOT reading the story they thought they were, nor is Joseph Carter the man they assumed that he was.

This is a character study about mysterious behaviour, miscommunication, erroneous assumptions and misunderstandings - all of which are incredibly annoying to deal with in real life while dating somebody. In this case, yes, it is primarily Joseph at fault for not explaining himself clearly, but the reader will be shown "why" he is that way so that they will have more sympathy. (You'll understand if you read it.)

Don't read if you don't like those tropes - but if you tolerate them, I promise that you will be treated to the happily-ever-after ending you'd hope for in a romance. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Stalking, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Grief, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Miscarriage, Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Sexual content