Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Asla Ders Almayacaklar by Layne Fargo

53 reviews

sn_salazar's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

msradiosilence's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

3.0

TLDR; 3 rating, I love women’s wrongs, I love queer women, but there is something missing here.

Content warnings at the bottom. :)

I am a sucker for bisexual female main characters, and this one kills men who hurt women?? It sounded so far up my alley. I went in hoping Scarlett and Carly would team up and take down all the horrible men on Gorman’s campus but that’s just…not exactly what happened.

So Scarlett and Carly are the same person. I figured that out just a little bit before the reveal, so cheers!

I really appreciated Carly’s arc, but because the time was ambiguous, the four or five page chapters and then the switches back and forth between Carly and Scarlett did give me whiplash in a few places. I understand why (to keep you on the edge of your seats during tense moments) but there was something lost in the back and forth. 

I’ve seen a lot of people complain about how there’s quite literally a single man in this book who is a genuinely good guy, and it’s sort of explained away because he’s gay. I think people pointing this out are missing the fact that Scarlett is a horrendously unreliable narrator. Someone described this as genderbent American Psycho, and while I’ve never read that book, I’ve seen plenty of reviewers who bite back at incel misogynists who look up to Patrick Bateman enough to realize that the comparison is likely an apt one. Scarlett is so consumed with her belief that men ain’t shit, and while it’s very likely the men she kills haven’t committed crimes egregious enough for the reader to sentence them to death, Scarlett’s had enough. She reads a lot into situations, often colored by her own trauma, and since this is from her perspective, we should take her observations with a grain of salt (in most cases). With the exception of Drew, all the men in this book read as horrible predators, and we as the audience only have Scarlett to rely on until another character confirms it (Mina with Kinnear,

Mikayla with Jasper

, jury’s still out on Stright). But whether you believe Scarlett or not, the point is she’s unreliable, but these men are still pretty awful.

And that’s the point, isn’t it? It’s a cautionary tale against trust, because it’s not always the ones you don’t know. Scarlett is a dream, and one that I’ve heard quite a few of my friends echo. Because even in the year of our lorde 2023, the doctors and the deans in Carly’s storyline are still saying the same shit. I saw it happen in undergrad to friends of mine. We have a long, long way to go before the events in this book are only the work of fiction.

Anyway. I thought the book was fine but it didn’t change my life. So, solid three stars.

Rating: 3

Would I recommend? A tentative yes, but mostly for the TWs and content.

Content warnings: Graphic: Fire, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gore, Grief, Sexism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content (about sexual assault), Sexual content (on page, consensual), Sexual harassment, Blood, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence. Moderate: Death of parent, Rape (mentioned, not on page), Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Suicide (mentioned). Minor: Torture (mentioned), Car accident, and Drug use

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexism, Sexual content, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Mental illness, Gore, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Rape

Minor: Car accident, Drug use, and Torture

katsusho_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Brief notes on this book: It was alright. Maybe it was because I found a lot of hype for this book beforehand that I did not rate this higher. It was intriguing though, and the plot twists caught me slightly off guard (though it was not like I was actively trying to predict the plot). I felt like this was leaning more towards the "kill all men" rhetoric, which isn't necessarily bad, but not the type of feminist book I care for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Outing, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexual harassment, and Violence

purplenoodlepie's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS!!!!!!!
Fast paced read. I found Carly extremely annoying and pathetic - which I guess is the point. She behaves like a high schooler, not someone in college. Overall story is fine. Unbelievable in parts. Wasn't as good as I was expecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Rape, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Sexual content

froggydanny's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Infidelity, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood and Cursing

Minor: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

literatureandlattes2022's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

lady_reina's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Blood, and Violence

itsalina's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Stalking, Infidelity, Grief, Drug use, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence

Minor: Torture and Death of parent

fbzcab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

_quinnsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

I don't get all the hype for this book. The main character was literally a psycho killer and I know that it was intentional mainly for the formulation of the plot (Create a female-lead character, make her a girlboss, give her credits for sweeping off rapists/evil men) but that doesn't erase the fact that she's a murderer. And she got away with it. I mean, yea the kills were justifiable but it's not for her to smite them all. But anyways, it's just fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship