Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Cackle

[Normally I hate being mean to books because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, so I will only be posting this review here. Just because I wasn't a fan doesn't mean it's a bad book, just wasn't for me! I don't really intend this review to change anyone's mind about picking up the book or not, but more as a cathartic release after having wasted time reading it...]

Cackle is what you get if you order Coraline by Neil Gaiman on Wish.com....

The best part of this book was that it made for EXCELLENT discussion with our book club group; what is the line between control and liberation, what are the boundaries between toxic friendships and empowering ones, what does feminism look like throughout the ages.

But the story itself left much to be desired. Loose ends, a "flat line" story arc, repetitive "I ate this for lunch, then I took a nap, then I did this" writing style, a dense protagonist, and an ending that didn't mean anything? Just wasn't an enjoyable read at all for us.

Would have possibly liked this more if Sophie and Annie were a weird couple, but the sensual "dress me in silky pajamas and kiss me goodnight like my mom used to" was VERY weird for me.

Wouldn't put it on your list of "Witchy reads".

Content Warnings

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I picked this up because I wanted something spooky, but still lighthearted and easy to read, and the good news was that this delivered. While Rachel Harrison’s writing WAS easy to read though, I found her writing flowed really well and was very introspective. Premise of the book sounds like a pitch for a sitcom, which for me is a plus. If it WAS a sitcom I would watch 10 seasons of it. Good read if you know what to expect!

I deducted .5 because Annie and Sophie never kissed. And another .5 because at a certain point it was just unbelievable to me that Annie moves to a pretty new town where she befriends a LITERAL WITCH who cooks for her and makes her dresses and shows her her own magic powers AND has a cute little spider side-kick….and she’s STILL thinking about her loser ex-boyfriend? She’s literally insane. Also I really thought for a minute there that all the character development we did manage to get from her would be undone when she decided to see Sam. I literally had zero faith in her. None whatsoever. So a pleasant surprise she turned it around in the end. Anyways, Annie and Sophie should have kissed. I don’t care if Sophie was a little toxic. I support women’s wrongs. Otherwise pretty solid read.

Content Warnings

camillessi's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Gonna come back and add my thoughts once I think about it more. I mostly liked this, but it was... confusing.

Content Warnings

aimzthereader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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

4.25

Didn’t like any of the charaxters, the spiders creeped me out, I got angry at a ton of the decisions… yet I still really enjoyed the book . The writing was really great . She decscribed loneliness, heartbreak, anxiety, depression, and unease very well

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