Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Paper Towns by John Green

12 reviews

rugbygirlreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Death, and Suicide

mattyb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Alcohol, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

fanboyriot's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

Read For:

Road Trip

Small Town

Good Friendships

High School Setting 

Missing Person/Runaway

I loved the writing style of this book.  The adventure and mystery was so entertaining to read.  It felt a bit ridiculous but it was so enjoyable to read.  Though the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I was hoping for.

Release Date: 16, October 2008

POV: First Person

Spice: n/a

Rep: BIPOC (SC)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Bullying

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Sexual content, Homophobia, Bullying, Fatphobia, Cursing, Sexism, Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

bbbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Grief, Eating disorder, Death, Bullying, Body shaming, Vomit, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship

shadow_seven's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

It has such a strong and powerful meaning about frinedship, mental instability, regrets, abandonment, love, revenge and it is so impactful for teens who are graduating high school. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, and Car accident

Minor: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, and Toxic friendship

All of John Greens books although may seem predictable they actually aren't and usually have a very strong connection with mental health/illness and a strong connection to personal relationships and parental support/involvement.

grboph's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I read this book in middle school and decided to re-read it after finding a copy in a junk store for a quarter. My perception of it was definitely different this time around. I think the characters were well-developed, the story was compelling and entertaining, and the general message (that we never really know what is going on with other people and that people and things never exist in the ways you imagine them to) was nice, and that it was conveyed in a unique, creative way. I do think it tries a bit too hard to be profound at times (like the extensive and at times exhausting use of Walt Whitman quotes) and that it could have gotten its message across just as effectively without being so emo about it. While I loved Radar, Ben, and Lacey as characters (as well as Q's parents), I found the characters of Q and Margo to be sort of insufferable. Unfortunately, they are the two main characters, and the story is all about Margo and told from Q's point of view. In short, I thought Q was incredibly self-centered and for someone whose parents are both therapists, he had a remarkable lack of awareness that girls also, in fact, have thoughts and feelings and lives just like everybody else. Margo clearly had some mental health issues and shitty parents, but I still found her to be a bit "not-like-other-girls"-y and in my opinion, she does not treat those around her with the greatest degree of respect or kindness. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this book due to John Green's writing and the interesting story, but the fake-deepness and annoying narrator definitely made me reconsider why I enjoyed this book so much when I was thirteen. (Of course, maybe that says something about the book's target audience, but I digress.) I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good road-trip story or is into books that are pretty meta and reference lots of other books to move their plots along.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Car accident, Alcohol, Excrement, Suicide, Death, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Ableism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Eating disorder

bizzarley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Not bad, not amazing; Very middle of the road. The side characters were very likeable and I liked the dynamic between the group towards the end, The chemistry was really good. Ending was a little?? eh, not what I was expecting but I enjoyed it as my first John Green book, will def be reading more of his stuff!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

leilaliw's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Bullying, and Car accident

Minor: Ableism and Toxic relationship

rachel_here's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

Paper Towns is kind of a funny book to me. We follow Quentin, an average high school guy who embarks on a one-night adventure with his neighboor and childhood crush Margo Roth Spiegelman. But the following day Margo has gone missing, and Quentin figures it is up to him to gather the clues that will lead him to her - and possibly help him understand who she really is.

The story was pretty entertaining. There is a mystery, clues that lead Quentin from one place to another, a road trip, american highschool shenanigans... But I can't say I enjoyed the book all that much.

Quentin as a main character isn't exactly likeable. He's judgmental, a bit of a snob, and assumes he knows people better than they do - which often leads him to devalue them or put them on a pedestral, as he does Margo. Which isn't a problem in itself because he has an arc to go through to grow as a person. Except I don't think his story arc was really all that conclusive.

For someone who was supposed to learn how to see Margo as a real person instead of this inaccessible, grand mystery he had to figure out, he sure kept seeing her as a metaphor or a poem or whatever-else until the very end. And since we only ever see Margo through Quentin's narration, where he never really listens to her or take to heart what she's trying to say but thinks he does, it kind of defeats the purpose of showing that she is her own person unrelated to him - which itself isn't exactly groundbreaking, or at least shouldn't be.

 

For what it is, it's a fun mystery / coming-of-age story. But it still is overly stereotypical, both with its characters (especially the side cast) and the way some of the themes are written. Some casual remarks treated as facts or "boys will be boys" also made me raise an eyebrow, but it was otherwise pretty okay. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, and Sexism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship

maxiemumbo's review against another edition

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

4.0

Not much variation from the typical John Green formula, but it's still as poignant and entertaining as ever.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Sexual content

Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Bullying, Animal death, and Abandonment