Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

I have some questions for you by Rebecca Makkai

25 reviews

wynnebirchmaple's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I couldn’t wait for it to be over which is markedly different than dying to know how it would end. Sad commentary on sad commentary and meta sadness all around. Structure is hard to manage in this work that was laborious. Too many characters, too many distractions and disruptions, a shallow swim in a phenomena no one has been able to explain—national obsession with true crime. Glad I didn’t buy it, own a previous work by the author that I haven’t read and am not sure I want to even though there’s big buzz, award kudos the whole thing. Author tried to over-serve and that’s what happens when you have a prior best seller and it’s easy to create a national conversation and vogue situation that everyone still rollicking in loungewear needs to get on board with. I am in no way better for reading this and I will look at Lake Forest Academy differently for now on. Author went there, lives there and has situated her novel in a similar but different place. Creepy really…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I don’t know why people like this kind of stuff. I’m really annoyed that this was so long and not because there was no payoff, it was just crap—like a compilation of Kepnes’ adapted work, “You” Emma Cline’s “The Girls” Kukafka “Girl In Snow” and Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” I didn’t like any of them and this one is now on the virtual shelf of harmful books to women that hijack political themes to make them sell or have obscene page count. Sheesh…

yes_smam's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

hschlecht's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

goldenbeebookshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

It's hard to rate this book because there are some compelling things happening here, but it's hard to tell from the description that this novel is mostly about the realities of women who are assaulted and/or murdered, the men who more often than not get away with it, and the deeply flawed and racist judicial system. These are not tangential things- these are the main focus of the plot more than any mysterious aspect finding the real killer.
All evidence thus far does paint a bleak picture for women in America- and there's value to that being explored, I just don't know how I feel about it being hung on this mystery scaffolding. The main character's actions do prompt some questions about whether or not there's nuance when it comes to believing women, to penalizing men for the actions of the past and assessing whether there's a spectrum of behaviors that might warrant different actions, and what kind of justice or truth can be found in the court of public opinion in a time when anyone can have a podcast or YouTube channel.
There is some great writing here- little concise sentences here are there that completely capture the feeling of being young, or being lost, or a person struggling in the world.
The pacing is a little slow in the beginning, and Bode felt a little incomplete as a character. There are little pieces of things dropped in and abandoned that I was uncertain as to whether they were meant to serve as mini red herrings or if they were underdeveloped plot additions. The last quarter of the book did move a lot faster and I find myself eager to sit down and read for an hour straight, which I hadn't been as eager to do before.
I think it might be helpful for people to know going into this that this is a story that feels true in that justice is rarely found in white patriarchal contexts, vigilante justice while potentially satisfying isn't always accurate or successful, and there are ripples of grief and shame that impact family and friends because of the choices of one person that are inescapable. There's no real high note to end on here, which is real, but rare in a fictional mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

hellocath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

a perfect meditation on the disfunction of the ‘justice’ system (particularly with regard to gender based violence and the way white men can get away with anything), #MeToo and the nuance required in examining power dynamics and abuse, the ethics of true crime storytelling, and the way high school has an unmatched and specifically fucked up impact on the psyche no matter how much therapy you go to. suggest this book to the weirdo in your life that doesn’t get why John Tory dating a staffer 30 years his senior is an abuse of power! also I’m not usually a big audiobook fan but this one is excellent; so well-narrated and very engrossing. please join my prayer circle for an Amy Adams screen adaptation starring Gillian Anderson tysm

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Self harm, Suicide, and Death of parent