Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Summer's Edge by Dana Mele

16 reviews

slimepuppy's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This story starts like a typical "I Know What You Did Last Summer" murder mystery with all of its cliches and suspects... and then the first POV shifts happens, and the real fun begins. Even if I expected some of the twists, this book still caught me off guard a couple of times, and I think the final Emily chapter  delivers a brilliant closure - without it, I would have been sorely disappointed, but as it is I think the ending is beautiful, sad and haunting.

The characters are all extremely flawed, but I was still able to relate to their anguish - it definitely helps that all of them feel and sound very young, and that the dialogue is well written and the setting well established.

The only reason I can't give this book a 5 star rating is because the different narrators did sound a little same-y. I think Chelsea and Kennedy were different enough, but Emily was way too similar to both of their voices, and I was craving some change by that point in the book. Emily came across very differently when seen through Kennedy's eyes, and I wish her POV carried more of her earlier portrayal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Medical trauma

_p0ssum_'s review against another edition

3.25

I personally loved this book at the start however when I got to the flashback areas I found it rather confusing and boring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Injury/Injury detail

throwback682's review against another edition

2.5

I found this book really confusing and not very intriguing. I kept hoping the twist would be worth it but meh. I should’ve DNF’d  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

agiraffe95's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

aichaa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this is was so well done, so well constructed and thought out, everything fits!!! loved it!!

blurbs: the haunting of hill house meets (something)
one of the narrators: is seemingly a ghost
me when kennedy says the house is haunted: omg there are ghosts in the book!

ryan made me so uneasy but i felt bad for him at first, thinking he had his reasons to act like that… and he did. but those reasons didn’t justify his behavior at all lol

as soon as he called himself a nice guy, my suspicions about his character were confirmed. like, being petty and bitter because of the situation he was in is one thing, but he  used it all to justify his already growing resentment about his friends and was SO over-the-top about it.

must be a family thing because like, emily sweetie, you did way TOO much, went way TOO far to avenge your reddit dwelling, inc*l of a brother lol. calm down. she was just like ryan too — chase is her chelsea and mila is her kennedy.

anyways, everything can be summed up by kennedy saying “I wish my friends weren’t so dramatic.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief

swedishfrisk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is a cheesy young adult popcorn flick. The comparisons made on the book seem fairly accurate and it definitely blends reality with the supernatural. I struggle with how I feel about this book because it had an interesting premise starting out and then there were a lot of flashbacks and then when it ends you feel confused but can also piece some things together. I had trouble though differentiating the characters at times and felt like the book could have been far shorter to have more impact with its ending. I’m not sure we needed every single detail given. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

hollyk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

My brain is spinning, I'm shook to the core, there's not a hero and a villain so much as a group of flawed individuals. Absolutely riveting, jaw dropping, twisty, turny, and hard to put down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, and Classism

iz_kap1225's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

BIG PLOT TWIST MADE THE BOOK AMAZING FOR ME!! No spoilers but the characters were complex and the mystery was unique. Some supernatural aspects. I could have these opinions because this was my first mystery/thriller read but I really enjoyed it :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Medical content and Alcohol

grichmond's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal death

simplyammee's review against another edition

sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The idea is good but unoriginal and this definitely isn't a great, fresh spin on it. The writing itself isn't bad, the twists are probably good if you don't pick up on the obvious hint in the blurb. It wasn’t so in my face obvious that I hated reading it, but it felt like the blurb spoiled any chance I had at actually being surprised. 

The "Haunting of Hill House" bit in the blurb is a bit too on the nose that it makes everything kind of obvious...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit