Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

10 reviews

shawn_martines's review against another edition

dark funny sad fast-paced

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

2.75

This book is ahead of its time, but not for everyone: a story of self discovery written with LGBTQIA+ characters but full of Gay Wrongs instead of gay rights. This story is written in a way that the message could be championed by the wrong people and I could not get that out of my head. I appreciate the humour and the fast paced adventure, but this book quickly jumps into a statement that is drawn out long enough to fumble a safe landing. I left the story thinking, "what did I just read?" but not in an awestruck way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Ableism, Biphobia, Pedophilia, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Car accident, Body horror, Grief, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Drug use, Blood, Gore, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

rachellosacco's review against another edition

challenging funny mysterious fast-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

5.0

What a great and crazy dive into ideas of beauty and hyper-femininity. There are plenty of twists, some you might be able to guess, others that are truly shocking. Consumerism and spectacle are criticized throughout, and the line begins to blur between hate and love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Outing, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Deadnaming, Cursing, and Body shaming

Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Rape

milsforreals's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Medical content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Outing, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Gun violence

Minor: Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Eating disorder

grunbean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.25

Whenever I read a book by Chuck Palahniuk I can only describe my reaction with that one clip of Brian David Gilbert going ‘What the f***’?!’. For me this picked up over half way, but it’s not a bad read. Definitely interesting with plenty of surprises, which is what you’d expect! It just didn’t have its hook in me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Drug use, Dysphoria, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Outing, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Addiction, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Death, and Car accident

jeremie's review against another edition

dark funny tense 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

4.75

This and “Fight Club” should be talked about in the same breath.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Drug abuse, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Addiction, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Incest and Eating disorder

abbruzzese's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.

When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?

i think i'm done with chuck palahniuk for a long, long time. wish i had read fight club before anything else of his because i'm so sick of reading his writing. it's so repetitive, it's exhausting. and it's all so miserable. satire or not, edgy or not, there's only so much fucking depressive shit a girl can handle and i am maxed out. if you really want to read one of his books, just go with choke and call it a day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

updownwrong's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Invisible Monsters is the best Chuck Palahniuk novel I've read yet. It's full of twists and turns, awful yet loveable yet loathsome characters, and outlandish yet almost plausible situations that make your jaw drop. While I don't think the book is as shocking as it would have been 20 years ago, I think it's an essential read for anyone who enjoys modern satire. Bonus points if you're a former emo kid who underlined all of the lines AFYCSO references. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Self harm, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Medical content, Addiction, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Ableism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Outing

spookyspice's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

I know people think Guts from Haunted is the most messed up thing Palahniuk has written but from what I’ve read of his work this is actually the most disturbing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Self harm, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Car accident, Death, and Grief

whentheresteeth's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense 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

4.75

"Find what you're afraid of most, and go live there."
I really deeply enjoyed listening to this book. It is infused with satire, which makes the harsh realities that it deals with almost comical, but that is also what makes them appear so real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Addiction, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Stalking, and Outing

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Vomit

cubistvowels's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence