Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Pisces by Melissa Broder

50 reviews

michelleka's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Animal death, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Mental illness, Infidelity, and Death of parent

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I had felt, for a long time, that if I started crying I would not stop—that if I finally ripped, there would be nothing to stop my guts from falling out. I was scared of what might come out of me: the things I would see, what others would see. I was scared the feelings would eat me.

The explosive end of a long term relationship has left Lucy depressed, with a restraining order, and court ordered therapy. Fleeing the desert for sunny California, on her sister's insistence, all she has to do is attend group therapy, housesit, take care of Dominic, the sweetest little dog, and perhaps work on her thesis on Sappho. But healing isn't easy, specially when you don't believe you're the problem, and it's easy to get distracted. Things get out of control when a mysterious surfer with a secret catches Lucy's obsessive attention, sending her on a different path altogether.

The summary calls this "a story about falling in obsessive love with a merman" but that's not what this is really about. This is sad girl lit fic. It's navel gazey, it's existential. You either get it or you don't, there's no inbetween. Did I like this? Did I enjoy this? I'm not sure, but I can't say I hated it. Lucy is a difficult character. She's unlikeable, on a downwards spiral, but this condition makes her able to see the world in a different way and to probe at the status quo. Through her exaggeration of reality shine little pearls of wisdom and reflections about life. Mostly this book, to me, showed that recovery isn't lineal. It's hard work, and it's normal to backslide and crash and burn.

The merman bit was interesting but I would have liked it to go farther.

Listen I'm not saying that I wanted the fish dick to be wilder but that's exactly what I'm saying.

This book does deal with a lot of ugly and bizarre sexual situation that might make your face scrunch up. It also has a loooot of trigger warnings, so be careful.

TW: suicide, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, animal abuse, and the dog does die :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Blood

bellebeaumont95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

3.5

 To want what you had—now, that was an art, a gift maybe.

This was sort of a brutal read. I both recognized myself in Lucy and felt repelled by her, often simultaneously. It's very much a deep dive into neurosis, a little addictive, with interesting, tiring, funny, disgusting, moving writing spread throughout. Mostly I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, since it's always tragic when depression has a death toll.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Addiction, Body shaming, Sexual content, Mental illness, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Car accident

siriface's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Addiction, Animal death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Relapse, Menstruation

rgrgrg's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Animal cruelty

amsu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

I don't know if I hated this book or liked it. Is it a 1 star or a 5 star? I don't know.
 It was intriguing, disgusting, frustrating, vulgar and still somehow beautifully written. I hated the main character at times, but I felt for her and felt with her. Some of her actions were understandable in the context of the book, but then again utterly unforgivable.

As one can see I am undecided, but what I know is that his book evokes strong emotions and made me reflect on love, obsession, mental health and human connections

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Vomit and Blood

academic pressure is one of the main themes!

addythebookbat's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Excrement, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Animal death, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

bersblue's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism

sperigo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This will be a book like nothing you’ve ever read before. Expect to hate the main character, read a lot of sex scenes, and suspend your disbelief when the plot takes a surrealist twist.

Please heed the trigger warnings, but if you think you’re in the right headspace then this is a thought provoking read.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Physical abuse, Grief, Misogyny, and Stalking

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Vomit

limpitok's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Mental illness, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction