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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
17 reviews
kennanicole's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child death
foreverinastory's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
Damn this was amazing! I should've read it sooner. Also someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is mainly set in Trinidad & Tobago?
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance novel that follows Feyi, a grieving widow. After 5 years, Feyi thinks she's ready to go back on the dating scene. Feyi first finds Milan, who is hot and makes her feel attraction for the first time in a long time. But neither is ready or willing to open up, so after a brief friends with benefits fling, they go their separate ways. What Feyi doesn't expect is Milan's friend, Nasir, to call her immediately after and attempt to woo her.
Feyi feels something for Nasir, but she's wary of romance and dating since the death of her spouse, Jonah. The two agree to be friends and take it slow. The synopsis says these two are dating, but I think that's a mislabel. They agree to be friends first and foremost. Now Feyi goes into this relationship to eventually pursue something romantic with Nasir, but she's not quite ready to jump into it.
The two head off on a trip to meet Nasir's family and have Feyi attend an art show on the island. When Feyi meets Nasir's dad, Alim Blake, there's something between them that she can't deny. As she gets to know Alim, she finds someone who understands her pain of losing her spouse too soon. Something Nasir could never understand. Feyi is unsure how to navigate this growing attraction with Alim and her possible relationship with Nasir. Especially since she's starting to think Alim returns her attraction.
Look this book won't be for everyone. But I think it is an amazing second chance romance between two people who have lost people before. Something that really bothered me about Nasir's reaction to finding out about Feyi and Alim (who had only kissed up to that point) was that he felt entitled to Feyi's body and I'm not here for that. Even if you are in a relationship with someone, you don't owe them your body. You don't owe a partner sex. Consent is needed every single time and it can be revoked at ANY point. Kissing someone doesn't automatically mean you are going to have sex with them.
This book is very messy and maybe even a little unhinged, but relationships and life are fucking messy. Attraction doesn't always follow logic and most people can't turn their attraction off like a tap. I found the relationship between Feyi and Alim much more intimate, romantic and trusting than I did between Feyi and Nasir.
Lastly, Joy is the best and I love her with all my heart. Please Akwaeke can we have a companion/sequel about Joy.
Rep: Nigerian-American bisexual cis female MC with PTSD and anxiety, Afro-Carribean bisexual cis male side character, Afro-Carribean hetersexual cis male side character, Ghanian-American lesbian cis female side character, various Black and Afro-Carribean side characters.
CWs: Grief, death, sexual content, blood, death of parent, cursing, mental illness (PTSD and anxiety), biphobia/bimisia, injury/injury detail, homophobia/homomisia. Moderate: Violence, past car accident, domestic abuse, alcohol consumption, child death, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship, misogyny, sexism, cancer mention.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance novel that follows Feyi, a grieving widow. After 5 years, Feyi thinks she's ready to go back on the dating scene. Feyi first finds Milan, who is hot and makes her feel attraction for the first time in a long time. But neither is ready or willing to open up, so after a brief friends with benefits fling, they go their separate ways. What Feyi doesn't expect is Milan's friend, Nasir, to call her immediately after and attempt to woo her.
Feyi feels something for Nasir, but she's wary of romance and dating since the death of her spouse, Jonah. The two agree to be friends and take it slow. The synopsis says these two are dating, but I think that's a mislabel. They agree to be friends first and foremost. Now Feyi goes into this relationship to eventually pursue something romantic with Nasir, but she's not quite ready to jump into it.
The two head off on a trip to meet Nasir's family and have Feyi attend an art show on the island. When Feyi meets Nasir's dad, Alim Blake, there's something between them that she can't deny. As she gets to know Alim, she finds someone who understands her pain of losing her spouse too soon. Something Nasir could never understand. Feyi is unsure how to navigate this growing attraction with Alim and her possible relationship with Nasir. Especially since she's starting to think Alim returns her attraction.
Look this book won't be for everyone. But I think it is an amazing second chance romance between two people who have lost people before. Something that really bothered me about Nasir's reaction to finding out about Feyi and Alim (who had only kissed up to that point) was that he felt entitled to Feyi's body and I'm not here for that. Even if you are in a relationship with someone, you don't owe them your body. You don't owe a partner sex. Consent is needed every single time and it can be revoked at ANY point. Kissing someone doesn't automatically mean you are going to have sex with them.
This book is very messy and maybe even a little unhinged, but relationships and life are fucking messy. Attraction doesn't always follow logic and most people can't turn their attraction off like a tap. I found the relationship between Feyi and Alim much more intimate, romantic and trusting than I did between Feyi and Nasir.
Lastly, Joy is the best and I love her with all my heart. Please Akwaeke can we have a companion/sequel about Joy.
Rep: Nigerian-American bisexual cis female MC with PTSD and anxiety, Afro-Carribean bisexual cis male side character, Afro-Carribean hetersexual cis male side character, Ghanian-American lesbian cis female side character, various Black and Afro-Carribean side characters.
CWs: Grief, death, sexual content, blood, death of parent, cursing, mental illness (PTSD and anxiety), biphobia/bimisia, injury/injury detail, homophobia/homomisia. Moderate: Violence, past car accident, domestic abuse, alcohol consumption, child death, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship, misogyny, sexism, cancer mention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death of parent, Blood, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Biphobia, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Violence, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Cancer, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
dakotaa_jpg's review
emotional
funny
medium-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
4.5
This book was great! This is my favorite author so I may be biased but even when I wasnt sold on some of the actions of the characters i was still engaged and invested because it was written beautifully. I think this book is also very culturally specific in the actions and dialogue of the characters so if you arent apart of the African Diaspora it may be a little harder for you to understand why the characters act out their motives in the way they do. Still a very fun read, I only wish we had delved a little more deeply into the relationship that Alim had with a man, because it felt like such an important part of how he acted in the present and we only really get a "I dated him but people were homophobic so we broke up" which is realistic but i wanted to know how specifically that relationship had shaped him as well not just people's reaction to it.
Overall I dont regret checking this book out at all, I took a long time to read it because I dont usually go for romance books and the age gap, but I enjoyed the read
Overall I dont regret checking this book out at all, I took a long time to read it because I dont usually go for romance books and the age gap, but I enjoyed the read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia
kshertz's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
It’s definitely beautifully written. I love most of the book. It gets to a point where it gets slightly tough to follow or believe in my perspective. I want to leave her perspective and go to someone else’s. But I’m stuck in her mess of her own making. Also, found a new trigger.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Death, and Gaslighting
samarakroeger's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
this book is MESSY. like, I've never read anything nearly as messy. and I'm not talking about writing execution here (although I'm having a real hard time seeing the purported 'literary merit' of this book). the main characters are awful, self-absorbed people severely lacking in empathy or a regard for how their actions will hurt others.
I thought this book had a promising beginning. I wanted it to talk about grief, queerness, money, Blackness, compulsory heterosexuality, female friendship ... the list goes on. what I got was an extremely surface level romance between two incredibly beautiful people who have an insta-lovey connection with chemistry that I personally never sensed. maybe I was too icked out by the HUGE age gap and the constant reminders that he could be her father.
it wasn't even funny. like, come on. I require a bit of banter in my romance books, even if they're not all happiness and sunshine. I firmly believe it is possible to talk about grief (in more depth, too) in a romance book and also include some humor or wittiness or cleverness or something other than just mentioning the beauty of the two despicable main characters all the time. I would have been fine with Emezi just leaning into the campness of it all and going full wattpad mafia romance (no morals there!) in a fun and unbelievable way (key word: FUN. YMAFODWYB was not fun).
I kept hoping there'd be some redemption of morality where Feyi would start calling herself out on her shit and get out of that mansion and run back to her friend Joy and call out how horrible and toxic the plot was, but alas, stereotypical romance ending I shall settle for. at least the book was short.
I thought this book had a promising beginning. I wanted it to talk about grief, queerness, money, Blackness, compulsory heterosexuality, female friendship ... the list goes on. what I got was an extremely surface level romance between two incredibly beautiful people who have an insta-lovey connection with chemistry that I personally never sensed. maybe I was too icked out by the HUGE age gap and the constant reminders that he could be her father.
it wasn't even funny. like, come on. I require a bit of banter in my romance books, even if they're not all happiness and sunshine. I firmly believe it is possible to talk about grief (in more depth, too) in a romance book and also include some humor or wittiness or cleverness or something other than just mentioning the beauty of the two despicable main characters all the time. I would have been fine with Emezi just leaning into the campness of it all and going full wattpad mafia romance (no morals there!) in a fun and unbelievable way (key word: FUN. YMAFODWYB was not fun).
I kept hoping there'd be some redemption of morality where Feyi would start calling herself out on her shit and get out of that mansion and run back to her friend Joy and call out how horrible and toxic the plot was, but alas, stereotypical romance ending I shall settle for. at least the book was short.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Death
once_upon_a_storybook's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: Blood, Gaslighting, and Homophobia
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship
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