Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

10 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.75

I enjoyed this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the physical version. There were a lottttt of characters, and it took me a long time to parse everyone apart. I think if I had a better idea of who everyone was, I could have started storing away little details about them to feel more involved in their lives faster. I thought it was written really well though, and I felt like everyone's story had a satisfying conclusion. Love a little witchy gal, too.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Bullying, Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Minor: Misogyny, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

bookedbymadeline's review

This book took the “thrill” out of “thriller” 😅 

There’s wayyy too many POVs (11 different characters PLUS alternating timelines plus a manuscript??). I love switching POVs but this was too much to the point that there’s too many plot points (which apparently not all of them get solved in the end), and I can’t connect with a single person.

This book could use a HEAVY round of edits/cuts to focus on a few things, it tried to do way too much and I simply was not interested. I couldn’t keep up with everyone and the POVs switched too quickly and too often for me to understand any of what was going on.

I loved Girl on the Train, didn’t love or hate Slow Fire Burning, and so after DNFing this I think Hawkins was just a one hit author for me and I won’t read anymore from her 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Body shaming

Moderate: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship

eshiltonn's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, and Death

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

tlikestoread's review

mysterious sad

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

cindas_books's review

emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Blood, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Blood

Minor: Drug use and Alcoholism

lcronin0815's review

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this book so much but it just fell a little flat for me and was very middle of the road for me. I thought that writing was find and the pace of the book would have been good if I hadn’t have listened to it on audiobook. The two things that bugged me with this book were the description of Julia’s character, especially when she was younger, and the fact that everyone was some shade of awful. 

First, one of the major take-aways from Julia‘a character is describe as being fat and it is only seen in a negative “Look at her- what a disgusting fat person”. It just seems too much when you have repeated people describing another person, and more specifically a CHILD, as being a disgusting outcast just because of her weight. 

Second- There is a review that does better job explaining this but there isn’t anyone in this book that is victim or villain. There aren’t any middle of the road characters and everyone seems to have a big secret to the point of it being a little forced. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Fatphobia, Violence, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Homophobia

alicialoebl's review

dark 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

5.0

Large cast of characters was a little confusing at first but the story had a lot of twists and turns and kept you guessing until the end, I like the relation of the river and "difficult women" 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Infidelity, Grief, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Body shaming

nataliakolozsvari's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Paula Hawkins is a godess. I have read The Girl on the Train a few years ago, and I was in love with it. Well, this book is even better! It keeps you guessing until the last page, every chapter brings something new to the table. This is the perfect thriller for me, I'd love to read more like this!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Animal death and Terminal illness

Minor: Police brutality and Toxic relationship