Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

55 reviews

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Blood

Minor: Infidelity, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

eetishmeh's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

[This review was written without reading the perquisite Caraval books.]
Not my cup of tea, but from an objective standpoint I can tell how well-written it is. I adored the worldbuilding and the Magnificent North, but Evangeline tends to think in repetitive sentences whicu got tiring quick 🥲
The starting was meh for me (rofan veteran readers may think differently; I don't usually read this genre), but it picked up later with the mystery. Would've brought this up to 4 stars if not for some situations I thought were overly possessive in terms of interactions (

Jacks nipping Evangeline's ear and gripping her by the waist even though she was uncomfortable 😭 He didn't have to go that far

) which I believe were unnecessary. 

I don't know how I feel about Jacks potentially being Evangeline's love interest. He's done a lot of terrible things to her so far, and lemme just say that it'll take an out-of-this-world redemption arc to get me to be on-board with that. Whenever I think I'm starting to like Jacks, he turns around and pulls a new stunt :') I have faith in Stephanie Garber, though, because I can tell she's a good writer + my friend who's read the Caraval series vouches for her ability to do that haha

Also, this book is just a walking amatonormative theme, which was off-putting especially because I'm demiromantic 🥲
Conclusion: I think I'd be better off with Caraval tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent and Toxic relationship

raypaws's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship

maddiementions's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

I liked it, and the the main character is overall fine, but I find the her naïveté and idealization of romance/“happily ever after“ to be really irksome. I can deal with an unreliable narrator, but she can be pretty silly…and it’s not endearing. Otherwise, I like her and Jacks’ dynamic and plan to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Body shaming

lauraeerika's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

tbh i think it's a bit mid, but i understand why people enjoyed it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Murder

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Death of parent and Infidelity

letiross's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

bblanka's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship