Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

77 reviews

bookishlysophie's review

emotional funny sad medium-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

3.5

This book is full of plot twists that you won’t expect. I love how complicated the characters are. You’ll be surprised how the story unfolds. O’Leary’s writing flows so well. Parts of it felt quite jarring but I’d still recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Dementia and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexism and Sexual harassment

grapie_deltaco's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

Beth O’Leary ruthlessly tore me to shreds in a story that truly does require more than one read through.

She plays with perspective and withholds small pieces of information in order to shape a new narrative in order to have the reader build up a strong (false) image and understanding of characters and events before smashing it to pieces and leaving us to sit with the fact that we have been wrong from the jump.

The No-Show is just one of those stories you can’t really give your full thoughts on because they would be spoilers. 

Just know that I am devastated. 

CW: references and mentions to past miscarriage, recurring discussions and references to past toxic/abusive relationship, stalking, death/death of loved one, grief, brief self harm

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Self harm, Miscarriage, and Stalking

kinahgrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Car accident

Moderate: Self harm, Dementia, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Miscarriage

claireabell's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death

spaghettireads's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol and Pregnancy

rebeccai's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Grief and Mental illness

icieri's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

marylinaris's review against another edition

emotional slow-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

4.0

Going into this book, based on the synopsis, I expected something completely different, maybe something more in the vein of John Tucker Must Die, definitely something more fun and more romance-focused. I did not expect to start a giant spreadsheet to keep the timeline straight and several pages of notes to keep track of all the characters, though. 

The start of the book dragged a little, following three women, who each have a handful of supporting characters, in their individual stories took a while to get used to. Having three main characters was just a little too much and kept me from being fully emotionally invested during the first half of the book. Especially since I felt that the three women, at that point, lacked distinct character voices. Once we’ve hit the 60%-ish mark though, the story started to pick up and really had me hooked. 

Several of the twists were easy to guess, while some were well hidden through the evasiveness of the narration. Guessing any of the twists didn’t take away from the suspense of it all though.

The emotional damage I received after guessing the end and having to watch him delete the ‘My day :)’ calendar entries though, I will never recover.

 

Overall less romantic than the whole of it would suggest, and more of a realistic, emotional slice of life with an incredibly strong end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, and Car accident

Moderate: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

emharris's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Car accident, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Abandonment, Death, Infidelity, and Self harm

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

Joseph Carter seems too good to be true. He’s kind, sophisticated, mature, a man with a career, and of course, handsome. But when three women are stood up on Valentine’s Day, all by Joseph Carter, he might be too good to be true indeed. 

To avoid any spoilers, I’ll keep my review vague. This was a slow burning romantic-mystery, if that’s even a genre, with its twists and turns. I was a bit proud of myself when I figured some stuff out before it was served to me on a silver platter (like it normally is). 

If you’re into straightforward, predictable romance, this book probably isn’t for you. But if you enjoy guessing what’s going to happen next with some romance intertwined, I’d give it a read! 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content, Dementia, and Miscarriage