Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Push by Ashley Audrain

16 reviews

moonmoonsun's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

samlopez93's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Intense, chilling, and psychological, The Push is one book I could get out of my head for a while!! <Spoiler>Not sure if this is really a spoiler to say but I'll tag it just in case! Fans of The Good Son will very likely love this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Car accident, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, and Stalking

cdingler07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

Struggling with how to rate this. It’s SO good but it’s also so complex and deep that it almost feels wrong to rate it so highly. One of the best books I’ve read at conveying complex feelings. I couldn’t help but take on the hurt of the main character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Suicide, Self harm, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

bon_xx's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, and Self harm

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Dementia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Gore, and Toxic friendship

claire_reardon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

I waited two entire months on Libby…for this? Maybe it was just the Tik Tok hype but I didn’t find this as crazy and captivating as everyone said it was. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Bullying, Death, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Infidelity, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Abortion, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

sighsborg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.25

I finished this in one sitting, I’ll give it that. The Push is a very fast read and a bit of a page turner. The beginning had so much suspense and tension I was wondering where the book would go. However, the farther I got into the book, the less I found myself in suspense. Maybe this book was mismarketed, but to me this isn’t as much as a thriller as it is the analysis and dissection of motherhood and what it means to be a mother. I found myself empathizing with the main character at times and not at all in others. The flashbacks to Blythe’s mother, Cecelia’s childhood, I found unnecessary and really ruined the flow of the book for me. I think some of the wording she chose uncomfortable at sometimes, and maybe that was the author’s intent, however it just didn’t work for me. The ending was a bit of a let down. I think the way the book is narrated is a strength and a weakness of this book at times. All I can say is that at times, I found this to be a weak knockoff of You. Wish we could have gotten the POV of Violet or Fox somewhere in this story in order to give us a breather from this narration.

Not quite sure how I feel about this book.

I found the ‘evil child’ element of this story really weak and a bit… wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, Abandonment, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Body horror, Vomit, and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Abortion, and Sexism

drownedinfictionx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

abrasieve's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gaslighting, Self harm, Blood, Car accident, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Excrement and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Abortion, Cursing, and Vomit

lthumphrey's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

4.75 because I needed just a little more from the ending. Otherwise—WHAT A TWISTY, CREEPY, SICKENING RIDE OF CREATION AND DEMISE.

I was hooked immediately and never let go. The writing was smart and breezy and blunt and chilling, the chapters were deliciously short, the characters were multifaceted and unhinged, the plot was searing, uncomfortable, explosive. Darkly fantastic.

“The Push” refers, specifically, to one tragic incident in the main character’s life, but to me it was also a direct metaphor for all of the different types of motherhood represented in the story. How much children shape our worlds, the very good parts and, in this novel’s case, the traumatic and the sinister. 

If you haven’t already, pick this up ASAP. You won’t be able to put it down until the very last page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Violence, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Stalking, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Racism, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, and Dementia