Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

20 reviews

transquake's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying

seetaylorwriteandreview's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This book was pretty good. As it went in, I was wondering when the plot twist would be revealed. I just didn’t expect everything yo come to a close in the last 25%. However, that last 25% made the rest of the book worth the read! 

I will add to check the CW/TW!! If you struggle with any birth related trauma, this book might trigger you. As a doula and student midwife, my heart broke to see the very real obstetric abuse that was mentioned in too accurate detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, Child death, Medical trauma, Death, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

hayley_nelson915's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Abandonment

Minor: Blood, Gaslighting, Excrement, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Vomit, Miscarriage, and Infidelity

kjm_x's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Car accident, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Confinement, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

lovelymisanthrope's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I was SO pleasantly surprised by how enthralled I was by this book. I had heard good things about Mary Kubica as an author, and I had heard that this story in particular was incredible, so when I saw a copy at a library book sale, I knew I had to pick it up!
This book follows multiple points of view and alternates between the past and the present for all of the characters. The story takes place in a seemingly small town, where years ago, there was a young mother whom went missing, and not long after, another woman and her daughter went missing. No one could figure out the full story, and now years later the town is still trying to figure out where Delilah, the young child that went missing, could possibly be. Delilah unexpectedly makes her return, but her reappearance causes more questions than relief. 
This book was incredibly well written, and despite being in a format some might find difficult to follow, I think it was well done. Each character had their own unique voice, which made deciphering between their narratives easier. This book is VERY graphic at times, so I would caution to look at content warning before picking it up. Once I started on this mystery, I could not put it down! Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Mary Kubica threw a curveball that I did not see coming and I had to rethink each characters' motivation to commit these grizzly acts. One of the characters, the woman who went missing with her daughter, Meredith, is a midwife, and it was so fascinating to read about her experiences and commitment to her job. She just wants to help women, and she does so at the expense of her own family time. Shelby, the first woman to go missing, was one of Meredith's clients. She is so young and seems to be in a bad marriage and I just wanted to scream at her that she can do better. 
I do understand why some people did not like this book because they felt like the characters made implausible choices. The big "twist" and what starts to bring the stories together is held together loosely and the characters' rationale for their actions seems unrealistic. However, I was not bothered by this, and I enjoyed that Mary Kubica leaned into the absurdity. Life is not linear, and sometimes people's choices do not make sense, even to themselves. 
I look forward to picking up more from Mary Kubica!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

morganperks's review

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Car accident, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Blood, Violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Murder, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

katiescott's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

bookwillows's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.25

The ending is good and has a good twist but it is very hard to read or listen to in the beginning. The writing is short and choppy and lacks complexity. It’s was an elementary style like “see dick. See dick run. See dick run outside at night” it is not a book that I would read again, but the twist was good. I just wish the writing was different!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

readsalot's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Death, Confinement, and Child abuse