Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

68 reviews

ccbrodz's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

"My therapist says when you talk out loud without stopping for a long time, and you really listen to yourself, the mysteries end up coming out of the tangle of your subconscious."

If Ojeda doesn’t become a big name in literary horror, alongside the likes of Jackson, Shelley and Poe, then no one should. 

Given how literary this book is, it took me a while to get through it, but that doesn’t mean this book isn’t horrifyingly beautiful and macabre.

Each character read so differently from one another, I loved diving into each character’s subconscious, seeing where their biases came in.

I’ve always found tales about cosmic horror and the occult fascinating, especially when consumed together; the aspect of putting an ethereal being into our reality in a way that doesn’t feel forced can be so difficult to do, but in my opinion Odeja handles this perfectly! 

Above all else, this tale is about friendship, puberty, motherhood, and the perception of an ideal self.

If you want a slower read that still leaves you a deep sense of horror, a feeling of seeing things in the light and hearing the fluttering of lashes in the dark, then you should put this to the top of your list!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

eevvee's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is an incredibly unique piece of literature and story telling. It’s terrifying, unsettling, and truly amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

pcaldwel'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Toxic friendship

rmnedder's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the most disturbing, beautifully written books I've ever read. The prose is profound and profane and evocative in all its weirdness, the characters are complex and deeply appalling (which makes them all the more likable), and the narrative mosaic of times and formats and styles creates a patchwork quilt that keeps the dread and tension simmering the whole way through. It's a brilliantly perverse meditation on change and adolescence and desire, and I Will be thinking about it for ages to come. Definitely read the content warnings on this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Homophobia

beraspa's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Me he quedado blanca

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

pil4r's review against another edition

dark tense 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

4.0

 Mandíbula es un trabajo de ficción literaria latinoamericana completamente perturbador y atrapante.
El protagonismo está tomado por mujeres problemáticas pero sobre todo por los vínculos oscuros y pegajosos entre ellas. La adolescencia femenina se erige como algo espeso, turbio, que brilla entreteniendose con el peligro y la violencia. La agresión e incomprensión signan los roles de hijas y madres.
La trama juega inteligentemente con la construcción de la intriga y un horror blanco, coqueteando con todos los límites. Ojeda da una clase magistral -a veces pecando de cierta pretensión, es cierto- muy psicoanalista y extremadamente cinematográfica sobre esto, sobre la intersección entre el miedo, el deseo, la violencia y las mujeres.
El libro es oscuro, retorcido, pasan muchas cosas al mismo tiempo y, sin embargo, es díficil dejar de ver.
Recomiendo altamente para amantes del terror de la Enríquez, para personas dispuestas a entretenerse y pensar sobre lo problemáticamente endiosado, violento y asqueroso de la adolescencia femenina siempre y cuando no les intimiden ni aburran demasiado los excesos de incisos, subordinadas y referencias a madres lacanianas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death and Mental illness

Minor: Religious bigotry

viis97's review

challenging dark mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

lus's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

What if you were a teenage girl, raised catholic and in private schools? What if you loved your best friend very much but didn't have the words to say it? What if instead of 'love' you used words like 'twin'? What if your best friend fashioned herself a prophetess for a God she built out of creepypastas and Lovecraftian horror? What if your teacher hated you and your kind and what if your best friend betrays you, somehow? What if the worst thing in the world is to be a mother? What if it is to be a daughter? To be a teacher is to be a mother is to be a daughter and to be all of these is to have jaws strong enough to cannibalize homes and mothers and daughters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder

hauntedantiqueshop's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

well, I hated that ending. I felt it inching closer and closer to that and still. Really hated it. I wish the story focused more on the weird ass girls and their friendship rather than the teacher. Mostly because they’re CURRENTLY being little freaks and the teacher is a recovering (soon to be relapsed) freak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

idk how exactly to categorize it but uh. creepypastas? ft. a brief slenderman shout out