Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

694 reviews

marmorienkeli's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

I don’t really understand why this book is so loved. I mean, it wasn’t bad but it really wasn’t that good either? Somehow hollow dialogue and I didn’t really love the characters, they felt almost flat at times. The only likeable character

died near the end, and I thought ”Why should I even continue reading this?” And this is my own problem, but I dislike pregnancy tropes in books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

rosie_sloan's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Gun violence

Minor: Death, Car accident, Suicide, and Death of parent

jkull_10's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Gun violence

bbmaan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Car accident, Death, Drug use, and Homophobia

auniverseinside's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Grief

jzargo_thebird's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective 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

I'm giving this book a reluctant five stars simply beucase I absolutely adore it despite its noticeable flaws. It was written so well, it's feels so good to read like I'm drinking warm soup. The vibes were extremely comforting and rich. Forgiving some unsatisfactory things like lacking plot (which is super ture to life) but in a way where I didn't feel as engaged around the 50-60% as well as the romantic relationships feeling rather weak and shallow and at one point including straight up physical and sexual abuse and the guy who did it is just chilling around for the whole book and they mention it for a couple one-off jokes. But despite those few things, this story is just so admirable and charming, yet terribly heart aching and depressing, all while being uplifting and comforting, as well as Introspective and transforming. Long story short, I fucking loved this book. And I want to play some games. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Car accident, Gun violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, and Medical content

samglade's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

2.75

Please check the list of content warnings before reading this book, if you have any triggers at all - it throws a lot of dark elements at the reader offhandedly, without much buildup.
While I enjoyed the nuanced characters and their relationships, my enjoyment of the book was spoiled by some of the choices the author has made. The author decided on a style heavy on clinical, excessive details (e.g. a list of video game merchandise on a shelf having over 20 items, comma-separated), which betrayed that she is not a tech person and the incorrect usage of technical terms was jarring. More importantly, it felt like she was ticking off all the dark themes she could think of from the list of possible content warnings, all packed into the lives of three individuals. For shock value? I can't tell why it was needed. Given how the story was progressing, I was genuinely surprised that miscarriage wasn't used as a cherry on top. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death of parent, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident

Moderate: Cancer, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Drug use, Sexual content, and Chronic illness

Minor: Abortion, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Gore, and Hate crime

salixia_the_elixir's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Homophobia

Moderate: Antisemitism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Vomit

specialinterestbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

The only reason it’s not a 5/5 is that I think the structure could be a little confusing. I listened to it in audiobook form and it feels like a book created for audio. 

I can’t stop thinking about The NPC - an incredibly well written literary short story slotted perfectly into the novel. 

Creating a short story (of such high quality) that both works as a standalone and adds to the narrative of the novel requires incredible technical writing skills.

One of the best novels I’ve read in a long time from a technical writing perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship

lindsayd's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

3.5

It's intricate and emotional and compelling but not my thing. I wish I had checked content warnings before reading. I also wonder about the role/perspective of the narrator. At some times they feel like a journalist with excerpts of contemporary sources and at other times they are much too intimate to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Medical content, Vomit, and Terminal illness