Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

53 reviews

sadiesadiesadie's review

emotional funny tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

maggies's review

emotional lighthearted 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

1.0

Booktok lied about this one. The characters are borderline insufferable or otherwise so one dimensional that they might as well not even have been in the cast. It was easily 20% longer than it needed to be, with entire chapters where nothing happens to move the plot forward. The constant references to pregnancy were really annoying, especially because the subtext was always "a baby is the worst thing that can happen to you."

I was really frustrated that Anastasia ended up pregnant at the end despite telling Nate that she didn't want to be pregnant and preferred to adopt.

I also found it to be poorly written in general—the tense was inconsistent and odd, switching randomly between past and present, and the dialogue did not feel authentic...a shocking amount of dialogue happened off-page and was recapped by the characters' internal monologue later, and what did occur on-page was stilted and awkward. The spice might have been the only redeeming aspect of the book ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

books_baking_brews's review

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, and Eating disorder

margaretwaltemath09's review

funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was a great book. It was relatable. The only part I didn't like is how in the epilogue she is pregnant only like 2 years after the book ends. I wish we could have seen more of her professional skating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Sexism, and Pregnancy

pippwynn's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

sillyduckie's review against another edition

I tried.

The main character has an eating disorder that is fueled by her skating patter constantly telling her she’s too heavy for lifts and needs to eat less. And the two guys she’s hooking up with are constantly feeding or trying to feed her. It was exhausting. The sex scenes/spice were laughable. They just didn’t make sense to me and yet there are so many. They feel so medical and clinical? Also completely unrealistic. I was very puzzled by her having mind blowing orgasms and then being able to walk immediately after. Also the fact that after the first time the main characters have sex they get up and shower. He goes to his housemate’s room to get “girl stuff” which includes shampoo and conditioner??? And he insists on washing her hair but he doesn’t know what conditioner is?

There is so much needless drama. If this was set in high school and everyone was about sixteen then the drama and emotional stakes would make sense. But for twenty something year olds?? Nah.

I usually listen to audiobooks on 1x. With this I kept upping the speed to make it go faster. I got to 2x (at which this book still felt slow and natural??) and then finally gave up.

This is the first booktok rec I’ve given a chance and never again tbh. 

Also holy exposition and repetition back man! We learn so much about every single background character for reasons I can’t fathom. And every time the main characters are in the same scene and the POV switches we get to read the scene through both eyes. Honestly if one  POV was taken out, the book would’ve been much shorter and the quality would’ve stayed the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, and Toxic friendship

mareliza's review

emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.75

I thought it was an okay to good book and see why people really like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

emmasmidnightlibrary's review

slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Sexual content

my3bb8's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

srulon's review

medium-paced

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

1.5

I wanted to like this book and there were moments I did enjoy it, but it felt like it rushed through some of the most pivotal moments. I could’ve also lived without some of the spicier scenes. I enjoyed the smaller romantic moments in it. Forehead kisses and bonding over interests, would’ve like more of that and less of the thirsting. I also very much wish I hadn’t read the epilogue at all. Full cliché. A lot of the characters and story beats were really compelling but they just weren’t fleshed out enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

Moderate: Eating disorder and Panic attacks/disorders