Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

20 reviews

filipa_maia's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

5.0

I loved this book.

Although the action takes its time, everything kinda slowly evolves, this story is brilliantly written and keeps the reader hooked till the end. Think about twists and turns! This book has them all.

Usually, a book is a huge turn off for me when I cannot connect with any of the characters. Somehow, this story, these characters, are different. They are all very hateful, still I just kept reading because I could not put this book down.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It was an amazing read just in time to finish the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Violence, Miscarriage, Suicide, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

clo_l's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

I am very pleasantly surprised by how shocking this book turns out to be. It is a little bit slow here and there but it really really ramps up at the end. I was flying through it so fast, so many pieces of the puzzle falling together. It feels like a rollercoaster ride, loop after loop, giant stomach turning hill after hill. All throughout the book I was coming up with possibilities and attempting to figure the characters & their true selves out. I was worried everything would end up being so obvious, but apparently nothing was obvious because I didn’t get a single theory correct lol. This book is really well written. It truly is suspenseful & shocking! I think it would be great to read the book a second time to fully connect all the dots. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Rape, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Stalking, Car accident, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

frances_frances's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

3.5 stars rounded up

This book wasn't perfect but I really enjoyed the writing. The prose flowed easily and was rich and engaging. 

The main character, Helen felt very authentic to me. Her choices and motivations were often frustrating but as the story goes on, her reasons become clearer. She has a history of depression and the often toxic dynamics of her marriage and close friend group have instilled in her a sense of helplessness and self doubt.

For a psychological thriller, the pacing was just a bit too slow for me and some passages could have been edited out. I wanted a bit more to work work with earlier in the book, rather than having everything explained in the final pages. 

Overall, the writing and atmosphere were compelling enough to make up for the weaker aspects. Would recommend to others.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Miscarriage, Rape, and Infertility

jessicablehman's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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

4.0

It had a slow start and multiple  unlikeable and unreliable narrators. About three quarters of the way through I found I could not put it diwn. It was a clever ending, but I wish it had been revealed in less of a direct way.  The audiobook narrator was excellent. It's a interesting thriller where no one can or should be trusted.  I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Death

robynensolis's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Rape, and Infertility

Minor: Grief and Infidelity

booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Murder, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexism, Gaslighting, Car accident, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Toxic friendship, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, and Physical abuse

saraavowlerr's review

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Grief, and Infertility

Minor: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Cursing, and Blood

bobbeym's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

This was an interesting book to read.  I'm glad I knew to expect the first half to be slow; if not, I'd probably have DNF'd it.  There was a lot of build up on the characters and the plot but when it finally picked up, it really picked up.  

I loved the short quick chapters from the differing point of views. It's always enjoyable to me when I can see the story through someone else's eyes and not just the MC.  There are red herrings and twists throughout the book and it was fun to wonder what was what and see how it finally all played out.

Rated 3/5, and recommended to those that like mysteries (thrillers might be stretching it just a bit) and can make it through the first half of a slow book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Infertility, Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Car accident, and Gaslighting