Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

16 reviews

ravenpuff's review against another edition

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

2.0

I really wanted to love this but I just can't with Charlie. She feels too unrealistic and repetitive. She also didn't seem very smart. I kept saying to myself, "a woman would never do this." Riley Sager seems super out of touch with this female MC. 

Bold

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide attempt

abbiemreads's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

2.0

A fail on the trope of unreliable narrator, the ending undermines the entire thing and made me frustrated
I liked the tense parts but honestly saw the twists coming and it felt like adding in the other perspectives from Charlie’s was because the author didn’t trust their readers to understand what was happening 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Suicide, Mental illness, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

yvettesvibes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Violence

bookishgoob's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

“People don’t want to admit that there are monsters in their midst, so the monsters continue to roam free and the cycle of violence and blame continues.” this is a story that takes place within 24 hours. the story kept me on the edge of my seat and i held my breath a lot. the story consumed me and made my heart race. such a great story told incredibly well. i don’t really like the way sager writes women, he writes them kind of dumb and sad but i enjoyed the way this book turned out. while i didn’t like the main character, or the way that she acted, i did think it added a cool element to the story, thinking about myself in the position and what i would do differently. the twists and turns of this story were so winding and confusing. i’m giving this a 4/5 for being such an interesting and fun book. the ending was super sweet and made me super happy. however, i can’t get over the way Charlie acted and was written. it just wasn’t my favorite thing. i do recommend it, though. it’s a great read and perfect for spooky season. TW// there is lots of gaslighting that happens in this book and can confuse you as the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Mental illness

cheyreads's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

I could not put down this book. Some aspects of it was predictable but that didn’t take away from the book itself. I would definitely would recommend that you a lot enough time to finish this book in one sitting because you definitely won’t want to put it down.  The descriptions really brought everything to life and made it so vivid. And there definitely was a couple unexpected plot twists that I didn’t expect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

brindolyn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

As a fan of Riley Sager's work, I was super excited to dive into "Survive the Night." The premise, a film junkie university student accepts a ride from a stranger shortly after her friend was murdered? I'm in! 

 

I was a little disappointed in the strength of the story. Charlie, our heroine, is described as having a mental illness that causes her to hallucinate. It at times feels like Sager is using Charlie's mental illness as a blanket reason for the many terrible decisions she makes. 

 

Charlie is wracked with guilt after her best friend and roommate is murdered. She blames herself and decides to leave her university and her boyfriend behind in New Jersey to go back home to Ohio. The story takes place in the 1990s, a time before smartphones and rideshare apps. So Charlie resorts to the ride board on her campus, which was a pretty common practice. What wasn't common practice was getting into a car with a stranger without anyone to vouch for them. Which is what Charlie decides to do. This decision is attributed to her desperation to leave the place her friend was killed. 

 

Her guilt, depression and hallucinations combine for a nightmarish car ride filled with doubt and paranoia. 

 

One thing I love about Sager's story is the use of an unreliable narrator. The parts of the story told from Charlie's perspective are not at all reliable as she often slips into cinematic hallucinations when overwhelmed with emotion. And she is overwhelmed during much of this story. That means we, the readers, have to take everything we read from her perspective with a huge grain of salt. And that makes for a very interesting thriller. 

 

While I don't think this was Sager's best novel, it definitely kept my interest. And the twist at the end was a great touch that should surprise most readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Car accident, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Gaslighting