Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

13 reviews

mayze's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

A funny book by the comedian Bob Mortimer. I strongly recommend the audiobook version as it is narrated by the author (and  Sally Phillips ) and we can better understand the sense of humour in it. 

It's a solid book, I think it doesn't bring anything new narrative-wise and found the romantic plot very unrealistic and even somewhat stalkerish (I initially thought that would be the plot) but still it a pleasant read overall.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, and Emotional abuse

jordanez's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Gun violence

nreyno's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

amyowen's review

dark lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, and Murder

carolined's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

1.0

This is a terrible book with terrible dialogue. Imagine the class clown when you were 14 who would do all sorts of disgusting things for attention and say random things and make the same joke over and over and misuse words. Now imagine they are trying to impress you. This book should never have been published. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Excrement, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking, Police brutality, Gun violence, Violence, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, and Death of parent

emmagalt's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Death, and Toxic relationship

isabeldotml's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I had lots of fun listening to this, very much reminded me of Athletico Mince (not just because of the voices). It included some pretty heavy topics as well and I think they were handled with care.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

magicsarah's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

flashandoutbreak's review

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

bookforthought's review

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? Yes

2.0

I love a good mystery (even though I don't read that many anymore), and even more so if any humour is promised so The Satsuma Complex sounded like just the book for me. I received a sampler from NetGalley (although I hadn't immediately realised it wasn't the full copy) and finished listening to it on audiobook on Storytel.

I'm not too familiar with Bob Mortimer and his brand of humour, so I wasn't really sure what to expect from this, but I was in the mood for a light read and to switch it up a little after lots of fantasy books. Unfortunately, this didn't really meet my expectations.

The premise was quite good and I liked the mystery aspect of it, though I won't go into any details to avoid spoilers. I tend to like stories where we don't really know which characters we can trust, and there was plenty of that going on here. However, for the most part, the characters just felt flat. I definitely appreciated the attempt at introducing a wide and varied cast, and there certainly were some colourful characters in there, but to me, they all felt very one-dimensional and I never actually started caring about any of them, which meant the stakes were very low whenever any amount of danger was involved.

I found the main character to be very annoying and... well, just not funny. I did like his relationship with his neighbour Grace and her dog, which I found wholesome and sweet, but he didn't really have much else going for him. I found it very hard to get through the book and was bored for the most part. I really only finished it because it wasn't overly long and I wanted to see if it would improve when everything wrapped up. The ending itself was good, but it didn't really make up for the rest.

This is by no means a bad book; if anything, I found it fairly average, just like Gary: not anonymous, but not memorable either. It probably just wasn't my kind of humour and others may like it a lot more, but this one just wasn't for me.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Kidnapping and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality