Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Trust Exercise

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

15 reviews

kait_sixcrowsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

This was a fascinating book because it’s probably the only one that has made me hate read it for the fast half and then legitimately hooked me in the second half, especially once I figured out why the first half was so bad. It’s such an interesting book that explores themes such as power and perception — the use of the different perspectives was amazing, though I couldn’t quite tell what the use was to switch between 1st and 3rd POV so quickly at times. I kinda wish I had a class to discuss this book with because there are so many layers to it that I can’t fathom. Truly an incredible book, even if it confused me and was a tad hard to get through at times.

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laurensilva's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Trust Exercise is an interesting exploration into how there are always several sides to a story. We begin fully believing Sarah's narration, even though she is a teenager when everything seems outsized, only

to be told about halfway through the book that this has all been "fiction," or more accurately, "auto-fiction." We enter a new POV, "Karen's," which tells us that the Sarah we know is fake, a self-absorbed lie. It turns our preconceived notions around. But because of this switch, Choi also gets us questioning Karen's POV. Just like Karen says Sarah cannot speak to Karen's relationship with "Elli," neither can Karen truly know Sarah's relationship with her own mother; but still, Karen speaks with full authority on that topic. Karen is written from the self-righteous POV that she alone is right, she alone knows the truth and is a victim of Sarah's re-telling.

I do love how Choi switches between first and third person narration, especially with Karen, underscoring the difference between what a person remembers and what "actually" happened. For example, Karen's initial first-person telling of what happened between her and Sarah is that Karen went away to "Bible school" for the "fall and winter of [her] junior year" and Sarah struck out alone to London. Then about 70 pages later, we get a third-person telling of "the truth."

I do think we could have done without the final section with Claire. I feel like that story line cheapens the rest of the book, turning it more into a soap opera drama.

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hollyglolightly's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

It’s metafiction. 🤯 The whole point is to hate the things people say they hate, which is why you have to trust the author long enough to keep going to parts 2 and 3

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travisppe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The format of this book is going to stick with me for a long time. Very cool.

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ravensalwaysreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I feel so divided on this book. The first half was incredibly painful for me to read and I was anxiety ridden about where the protagonist was going. When the twist came I was intrigued because I thought it would be about this tangled friendship, but was quickly let down. If it had ended there it would have been okay but a poor encapsulation of supposed symbolism. But then the third section ended, as did the overall book, and now I'm left feeling grimy and sad and still don't not understandin what the point of it was. The harm men can do to women that chases them through not only their adult lives but their children's adult lives? Why did you rupture our view of the first character to set up the next character? Why leave off after giving us the shortest time with the most likable character just to traumatize her and us and then run away after that? I guess my final question is still what is the point?

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