Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann

5 reviews

chantale's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Dementia, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Toxic friendship, Grief, and Kidnapping

mitzee's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? No

4.5

This was mostly a book of self discovery under the guise of a murder mystery with multiple deaths. In some ways quite dark but also light hearted or maybe I just see it that way because the primary cast is a household of elders who live together to support each other, and that’s nice to hear about. Everyone has their quirks.

Summary for myself:

The story is told in third person but led by Agnes’ account of things. She seems like she used to be a detective or cop beaded on clues throughout the book about her “doing this kind of thing”. She seems to be mentally all there and still sharp (given that she tried to solve the murder mystery) until the end when it’s revealed that she might actually have hallucinations of her twin sister who died at a young age. 

What I liked about the book is that it treated the house hold like they were (mostly) well functioning adults. The idea of Sunset Hall is pretty nice - you live together and essentially write down when you’d want someone to remove you from this world and how you’d want to go. But I also  wonder how annoyed I would be with some people’s quirks once I get to that age. Would I be able to live with them? I guess it’s better than the alternative of living in a home.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Toxic friendship

styxx's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

callidoralblack's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Blood, and Car accident

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

What a hilarious and fun book! I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to read a book through the eyes of an elderly person, a totally new perspective since I mostly read YA and books featuring younger adult characters books. It had twists and turns but in a gentle mystery way more than a thriller. The misadventures of the characters were at times a bit sad but mostly funny. The narrator did an excellent job! Overall, it's an amazing book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Ableism, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, and Dementia

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Murder