Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh

6 reviews

jp_riemersma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Vomit, Blood, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Death, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

oobimooski's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Fatphobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

katiaveer's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

this book is nasty. i mean i get it it was set in 1851 but gosh i feel so uncomfortable most of the time reading that. this book unravels how mcglue might or might not killed his best friend. the main character is so unlikeable but his relationship with johnson is sweet and kinda sus from the start. the idea was so interesting to me but actually reading it is just meh idk

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual content, Racism, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs

kclark's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The first 40% of this book or so was extremely disorienting which makes sense given the plot of the novel. I appreciate a story that does something I don't expect, but I also see why people might bounce off of it, but I liked it. 

The book deals a lot with memory and it's ephemeral nature of memory, constructions of masculinity and how that intersects with friendships and sexuality, and how class distorts how our culture views guilt and innocence, among much else. 

The protagonist reminded me of other Moshveigh protagonists: lonely outsiders struggling to connect to society but this time in the mold of a drunken sailor. That sort of archetypical writing is understandable given this is Moshveigh's first published work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, and Addiction

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Excrement, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder

juliapetal's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-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

5.0

One of my favorites of all time, holy cow. What a writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Violence