Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

6 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

1.0

God, this book was such a waste of my time. I only finished it because I had to read it for school. It’s god awful. It was never entirely clear what was happening, to whom, or why. Most of the dialogue and narration just repeats and repeats, which serves to clarify literally nothing. The adults fail the children at every turn, which is hugely upsetting. And while no, books don't have to have happy endings, hopeful endings, virtuous characters, or good morals, so help me, I can’t tell what lesson(s) I’m supposed to take away from the torture the characters go through at every turn. My professor told us that this is one of Faulker's more “accessible” novels, and I have to wonder how his other works can possibly be less accessible than this novel. This novel is just word salad. I wish I hadn’t been assigned this book because it’s such a slog and with no pay-off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Vomit, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Grief, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

luisatkinson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Rape

gabriella_'s review against another edition

challenging dark 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? N/A

1.0

I hated this. I skimmed the essays at the end - Doreen Fowler’s Matricide and the Mother’s Revenge: As I Lay Dying was interesting though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Death of parent

bookish_bry's review against another edition

reflective sad 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

3.5

Unfortunetly, my library only had the audiobook for this and I think it would be a lot easier to follow if I could read it. I liked that all of the narrators were clearly very biased and it read like poetry in many places. Unfortunetly, I found myself getting a bit lost with the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Minor: Racial slurs

tigeryear's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

naive of me to read this the same year my dad died! at least he was loved by many, unlike addie bundren. i'd almost excuse what her husband did to her (in life and as a corpse) if i didn't absolutely hate his guts, too. sorry poverty kicked you in the ass; could you NOT take it out on your children, you groveling bum?? (note: it's too much of an ask)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Child abuse, Bullying, Sexism, Abortion, Ableism, and Animal death

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

b_caligari's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Toxic relationship