Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Fische by Melissa Broder

20 reviews

codecat's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

s_lorenz's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

kaicedcoffee's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't care what anyone says! I loved this book! I love that the main character is a mess and kind of a big jerk! And (SPOILERS) she develops just enough by the end for you to feel like she's grown but also not to an unrealistic degree.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Mental illness, and Excrement

lycheejelly's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Mental illness

sarahreadsthings's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What the heck did I just read?

It was not sexy. I did not like the main character. It made me uncomfortable a lot of the time. And yet... I gave it a good 4 stars and found it interesting. Go into this one skeptical, it's a hit or miss.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Mental illness, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

literaryliaisons's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Vomit, and Drug use

marissab's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, and Sexual content

Minor: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

bree_klass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

a beautiful mess of a book

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Addiction

wombat_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

Это был интересный опыт. Очень неожиданная для меня книга. И спасибо ей стоит сказать хотя бы за то, что она освежила мне вкусовую палитру. 
Мелисса Бродер приготовила интересную смесь, но если вы, ориентируясь на аннотацию будете ждать от этой книги истории любви между человеком и русалом, то вы жестоко разочаруетесь. Больше всего в этой книге саморефлексии главной героини. Каково это быть брошенной 38-летней женщиной с зависимостью от любви. Как вообще жить, если без партнёра ты себя не очень-то хорошо понимаешь и не знаешь как жить. Авторка не щадит читателей - чтение это откровенное и она протаскивает нас через все тёмные закоулки разума героини. В большинство из них заглядывать вовсе не хочется. Точно так же Бродер поступает и с описанием секса - не стыдится описывать его во всех, не всегда приятных, подробностях. Но что ж - это правда! Люди - странные и непоследовательные существа, а секс связан не только с удовольствием и любовью, но и с разными телесными жидкостями. От этого никуда не уйти. Полюбить главную героиню, после такой откровенности мне кажется и вовсе невозможным делом. Но может ей нужна не любовь?
Насчет русала важно понимать, что подробности его жизни, как организована его цивилизация и что вообще происходит - неважно. Это не фокус книги. Тео - просто символ, который выбрала Бродер, чтобы рассказать нам о любви, потере, сексе и поиске себя. Поэтому несмотря на все американские горки, по которым меня прокатил этот роман, мне радостно оттого, что финал всё же дарит нам надежду.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mental illness, Drug use, and Addiction

cheye13's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

2.0

Sigmund Freud and Judith Butler would go to town on this. And the ensuing debate would be more interesting than this novel. This was a boring Rachel Bloom's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and a bland Zaina Arafat's You Exist Too Much.

Unlike many earlier readers, I didn't pick this up for hot mermaid sex; I picked this up because those earlier readers said it was a wild ride. It disappoints on both fronts: first of all, the merman sex, while indeed hot, doesn't happen until a full halfway through the book, and is preceeded by quite a bit of terrible human sex. Second, it was more realism than it was ridiculous.

This novel did help me narrow down my ennui of millennial literary fiction. So much of that niche relies on "shock" fiction, but the "shock" is through explicit realism, which isn't shocking at all when you've lived it. Tragic public bathroom hookups, terrible first-anal-attempt stories, graphic discussion of suicide – I can accidentally overhear all that in a nightclub line on a weeknight.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion, Medical content, Self harm, and Vomit