Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

49 reviews

maebemerissa's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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maistfu's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

3.75

i really liked the main characters and the story overall and the fantasy elements were very nice. i didn't like the way mariel's family was borderline crazy. i get that you want some personal development and a backstory but it was not humoristic and just way too over the top. and the stupid 3rd act breakup/miscommunication was put in there too. it didn't fit the story and development of that characters at all. and I don't know if this is supposed to be a ya book but if so, there is a lot of sexualt content for such a genre...

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bethkxx's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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k_winchester's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was absolutely excellent. So much fun, genuinely funny - the amount of clever jokes/chuckling puns was high and I was smiling the whole time. (GhoulTube...)

Loved the characters - both strong, flawed, insecure, funny, surprising, grew so much, supportive, well-matched... There was so many fantastic bits to be had with Oz's lack of knowledge, there was so much greatness in Mariel and her nature magic, and great side characters (I'll get the spelling wildly wrong so the quirky elder relative A was incredible). I love how the world/setting is so easily infused with magical things and people and even social media (pixies, creatures, magical plants, etc).

Bonus, I did not see that climactic scene coming - excellent, great mystery, great build up, reveal, solution, etc (the visuals were EPIC and this book needs a mini series/movie. 100% casting Rege Jean Page as Oz....). And the actual ending was thoroughly delightful. 😊❤

10/10, totally enjoyed this. So cute!

(Personal Spice Note: TCA)

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

Such a bummer I didn’t like this book, especially because the title and synopsis really pulled me in.

I thought it started out alright. The writing style felt a bit young, but the side characters and their dynamics and well-established personalities really drew me in. I also thought Mariel and Oz had a really strong potential for matching arcs, each in a relationship with a a parental figure that puts a lot of pressure on them to be perfect in their destined path due to innate powerful magic.

Unfortunately I just didn’t feel like the book effectively followed through with those parts of the book. The main characters didn’t feel as vibrant as the side characters and I had a really hard time buying into the romance, especially as the book kept mentioning how little time had passed. The relationship itself generally felt kind of toxic, where a character would establish a boundary and the other would throw a fit about it. This was especially apparent in Oz trying to avoid hooking up with Mariel and her being angry about it and constantly pushing on the boundary. Overall the relationship didn’t feel like one that would last and generally felt unhealthy. Also the relationship felt almost entirely based on sexual attraction, especially when the characters were pretty consistently hooking up at what felt like weird times. (Like girl you’re protesting the against destruction of an area vital to the survival of an endangered species this is not the time for a quickie with your demon bf against a tree.)

I was also surprised about how little the characters knew about the world they lived in, especially with how much info dumping happened. It just made the characters look stupid when they would learn something and immediately forget it. Calladia was the only character I really liked and felt reasonable and the book tried to skew her as unreasonable.

Overall, it had a lot of potential but just fell flat. I’m willing to try again and am hoping book two is better, but only because Calladia is the MC.

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princesspumpkinhead10's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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alisbleu's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lecturerousse's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.5

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tea_coffee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a cute book. I loved Oz, the cinnamon roll demon. I would have liked for the timeline to have been stretched out a bit as I find falling in love to the point that you'll give up everything to be together in the span of about 2 weeks (I think?) to be unbelievable. The

third-act breakup

, while annoying, was understandable as it fit with the characterization. I think

Mariel

should have apologized more at the end. I appreciated Mariel's character journey dealing with her narcissistic mother and finding her own sense of self worth after years of being told she wasn't good enough.

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