Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

7 reviews

ceedy's review against another edition

funny reflective sad medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Eating disorder

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

I laughed. I cried. I learned. I was worried with the first part of the book and the talks of eating disorders (which usually trigger me to dnf books) but, Dolly just got more interesting with each chapter. It definitely felt like either a podcast or a gossip sesh with a friend but the way it made me self reflect, cry, and fall in love with Dolly was incredibly meaningful. I normally take much longer to read nonfiction as I get bored but this took me a fraction of the time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Cursing, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Medical content, Abandonment, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

sidekicksam's review

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

2.5

I was hesitant about this book, and I was both correct in my expectations and also surprised at some bits. If more of the book was as profound as the chapter on Florence was, I would have felt more connected to the book. The nostalgia of the 00s with the rise of MSN messaging, first encounters with boys, and some of the friendship love stories were also very relatable and fun to read. 

But (and there is a massive big but with this book for me), the overall tone of the book just made it very difficult for me to either love Dolly or to appreciate any of her stories. The excessive drinking and the egocentric attitude in her relationships with her friends (and not in her teen years, but as a 20-something) made her seem bratty and self-indulgent in my eyes. The satirical e-mails in between chapters definitely emphasized Alderton's ability to write (I liked her writing well enough), and though I also understood the recipes she included, with the naggy tone of her stories and the satirical tone of the e-mails, they felt out of place to me.

Perhaps it is because I don't have a close group of girlfriends that are my whole world, or because I am not single, or because I had a very different upbringing that the book didn't resonate with me. But alas. Personally, though I do consider the message of friendship evolving and that being ok an important one for people to read about and learn, I would expect a memoir to reflect on bigger personal growth or a truly outstanding story. This was not that for me, and for that I am sorry. 

I would recommend picking up Conversations On Love, in which Dolly also contributed. And for memoirs I really appreciated: Educated (Tara Westover), I'm Glad My Mom Died (Jennette McCurdy), Taste: My Life Through Food (Stanley Tucci) and Finding Me (Viola Davis). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

bookworm247's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

mraddd's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship

jenncortes's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

1.5

Read 130 pages but can’t really remember anything significant that happened. Aside from the fact that she’s an alcoholic, sex obsessed, toxic friend. Also noticed that she likes to travel without enough money and expects people to just save her. 

The few chapters that stood out were the one with the wedding (but i can’t even remember it now LOL), the one with her therapist, and the chapter that followed it. She became a good friend to Farly as she matured, and realized she didn’t need a man. That’s the only good things that happened LOL

I was ready to DNF this book but gave it another chance. I thought it was getting better towards the end, but then ended up getting boring again. LOL. Also, what’s with all the page fillers? We don’t need recipes and lists and fake emails. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Body shaming, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

malustedile's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Death, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Cursing, and Drug abuse