Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

4 reviews

cfabb's review against another edition

Honestly- I know it’s meant to be a critique on gender, but there was absolutely noooo nuance or really meaning discussions. Paul is so predatory and uses his ability to ‘be a girl’ not in a way to explore his gender, but a way to exploit the female sex and to exploit others. He’s incredibly predatory and calls the people he’s trying to sleep with ‘his prey’ - there was even a scene very early on where Paul fully SA’s someone and then it’s never mentioned again. Paul is also extremely fatphobic and also just uses his friends as a way to have sex with people by misleading them. I really tried but honestly this book was difficult to read and listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Misogyny, and Fatphobia

levtitticus's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Grief, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Medical content, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

iheartm4m's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-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

3.25

This book has a lot of potential but Lawlor takes gender identity and sexuality to a literal and physical form that feels necessary for some of the plot but not all. the book pointed to understanding the world through different lenses (girl, woman, man, beta, alpha, lesbian, bisexual) and how a person that has flowed through the gender/sexuality spectrum can and will expirience these situations portrayed in the book throughout their younger years. 
This can be eye opening for those who are are cis/het/certain in their sexuality/gender, but for those who have always fell through the cracks when it comes to identity, this book is a bit obvious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Homophobia, Grief, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Gaslighting, and Biphobia

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Drug use, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Blood, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

jameslyons's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Body horror

Moderate: Transphobia, Death, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Lesbophobia, Animal cruelty, Dysphoria, and Terminal illness