Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

36 reviews

abortress's review

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

the writing is pretentious af. so much so that it makes it difficult to read. it feels more like an idea of a story fluffed up with flowery language just so it can reach the minimum word count necessary to be published as a novella. it's 125 pages, but my guess is it could've been around 50 if the writing was straightforward.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Gore

Moderate: Toxic relationship

petrichorandcoffee's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I felt it was overwritten, way too many similes. Some really beautiful language and wonderful word choice, but it was often excessive and distracting- especially since many of the similes were repetitive. Excellent imagery. Interesting repurposing of old myth/folklore. The characters' actions often had little to no motivations and the setup of the plot didn't really make sense (it was illogical that those invited on the trip would actually have been invited). The commentary on race and gender was accurate and reasonable but repetitive and shoehorned into dialogue in clunky ways. The dialogue was broken up too much and didn't have a natural flow. Overall, I think Khaw is probably a great writer in different mediums but I personally wasn't a huge fan of this book. I do appreciate that I learned some Japanese folklore from it, and there were some really great lines and great descriptions of grotesque imagery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Gore, Murder, Death, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gore, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Infidelity, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia

nixieba25f's review

dark fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Body horror, Infidelity, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

jjjreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Bullying, Death, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

hauntedboi's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt and Self harm

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, and Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Vomit, Gaslighting, Excrement, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Drug use, and Bullying

katiereadsbooks23's review

dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

This kind of felt like a gossip girl ghost story, I may have based that statement off of the voice of the narrator of the audiobook but it’s a lot of personal drama with a little bit of spoopiness thrown in. If it was any longer of a book I probably would DNF it but I got through it and it was ok.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Murder, Death, Body horror, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

darumachan's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I agree with other reviewers that the prose is unnecessarily overwrought. The attention to unusual word choice actually took away from the character and plot development by being so self-consciously decorative, which dragged the pacing down. The tension between the characters from the start didn’t match the premise or their actions, and it got in the way of developing the setting or the really powerful influence it could have had over them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt

nialiversuch's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual content