Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

90 reviews

storielore's review against another edition

dark tense 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

3.25

sometimes it’s okay to read books for the vibe and not now what the fuck is going on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Body horror

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Take cloning, moral amboguity, replacements, women in science, and a mysogenistic ex, mix them together with murder and a cover-up and out comes this book. It won't be for everyone, but I rather enjoyed this dark story. Every twist was intriguing and added to the experience nicely. I also really liked how Evelyn is written. She's an interesting character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Medical content

Demanding a woman get pregnant, sexism in science

plantedjess's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Blood, Infidelity, and Abortion

dejaghoul's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Sucked me in from the very first pages and did not let go. A story deeply about abuse but which rarely shows the abuse, about the ways women twist themselves to fit into and evade what patriarchal systems demand of them, about tending to the hurt child inside of you, about personhood and the lack thereof. It was not what I expected but better than what I hoped, and I am now on a mission to make as many people read it as possible so we can discuss and cry about trauma. Thank you to the bookstore employee who recommended it to me because I never would have found it otherwise and am so much the better for it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

christineparkerco's review against another edition

Made it through chapter 9 with my eyeballs and had to pause for anxiety reasons but I wanted to finish because it’s SO GOOD. Tried it on audio and got through another chapter but it’s just too dark and heavy for me right now. Might give it another try at another time because I love Sarah Gailey and the premise is fascinating and the writing is excellent and the audio is entertaining; I just think I need to be in the right mindset for the content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Blood, Infidelity, and Gore

paperknotbooks's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Not a book I think I could re-read without the thrill of discovery. Made me question what it means to be human.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Blood, and Confinement

catandherbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. I didn't hate it, and I didn't love it either... I did really enjoy Evelyn and Martine and their personal development, as well as their interaction with each other

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

escapinginpaper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Body horror, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol

riereeds's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

It was a good book but I wasn’t very invested. I found it easy to guess what would happen next. The concept as a whole is a good idea but it feels like there are short cuts to get to plot points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Domestic abuse, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Infertility

Moderate: Emotional abuse

twinkletues's review

dark tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, and Alcohol