Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

89 reviews

lqvekanej's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Cursing and Sexual content

miabellawymer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

Read at your own risk. 

Oh my God. This book drove me insane. I was captivated from the start, and this book will haunt me for years. Felicity and Ellis are both nuts in their own way, and it makes for an intriguing read. The end, however, was dissatisfying. What the hell was that. I am traumatised.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

_ladypearce_'s review

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief

well_read_unicorn's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Mental illness

Background parental neglect

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is decent but I don't feel it fully delivers on the themes that it sets up at the beginning of the book. It always felt like I was waiting for something more interesting to happen, which it did on occasion but not enough to warrant a higher rating. I feel that the author unintentionally pointed out in the acknowledgements section of the book when she said she had a notebook of unwritten ideas, and she chose several to string together.

Felicity and Ellis were both strong characters, but I think the supporting cast could have been better utilised. Case in point

the biggest contribution of one of the side characters, a Black girl, was to talk about the school's racist past and how her grandmother was one of the first Black alumna. Since she didn't really get much to do outside of that role, she came across as a bit of a caricature instead of the critique of how white academia is that the author probably intended

.

If it's one thing the book has going for it, it's the atomosphere. Lee manages to perfectly capture the feeling of a gothic boarding school isolated from the rest of the world, and the girls that inhabit it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual content

minary's review

dark mysterious 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Gaslighting, and Dementia

monaluffy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Yes! A dark academia book with witchy vibes that I LIKED!!!!! I wasn't dissapointed AT ALL, Love to hate this characters!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and Emotional abuse

Minor: Eating disorder

lennatheunicorncat's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

Minor: Mental illness, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Murder

dernhelms_bag's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcoholism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, and Blood

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Vomit, Bullying, Classism, Lesbophobia, Body horror, and Eating disorder

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I was super excited to read this because queer dark academia is right up my street. It was very well written, and gave me modern classic gothic vibes. Shirley Jackson is mentioned a lot and it did remind me of her work somewhat. 

Unfortunately I found the characters to be a bit unlovable which really made it hard for me to feel anything for them. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Outing, Alcoholism, Classism, Racism, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization