Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

45 reviews

theperksofbeingabooklover's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Unexpectedly chaotic, absurd, gruesome, and tragic. I was not expecting all of these things together in this book. I think this one will stay with me for a while so I give it 5 stars. I think this quote sums most of the book well, "What I'm really scared of is believing that the words society makes me speak are my own. You're different. That's how I know you're from another planet." I really like how the book comes full circle. There are a lot of trigger warnings and the book can be really dark sometimes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Death, and Infidelity

kibiiiariii's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

What did I just read... It was amazing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Cursing, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

cloudy_666's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

It’s an amazingly well written book. Just don’t read it. It’s still a hood book, but those trigger warnings weren’t joking around.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Gaslighting, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Murder

Really really disturbing.

prince_philips_butthole's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent

catandherbooks's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I've never been so happy to have finished a book 😭 this was so hard to read, especially the first half, but the second one was so much better. This book was a wild ride from the first page to the very last one. So much to unpack from it. But I'm glad I could finish it. Moral of the story: be yourself, and surround yourself with people who respect, accept and motivate you to be who you are, who you really want to be. Anyone else is not worth your time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Incest

Minor: Toxic friendship

kayang's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Body horror, Cannibalism, Incest, Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

nate_b's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Really sucks you into a view of the everyday in a new way. Eerie and also disturbing at the same time. This book was not incredibly fun or interesting in terms of the story itself but it was so well told and the narrator did a charming job that I had to keep listening.

There are a few passages that haunt me long after I've finished it, where the protagonist reflects on her experiences and reasoning and relationships...

Ultimately I think this book could be used by psychology professors as a fantastic example of

dissociation as a result of trauma. It was captivating to see her worldview slowly realign itself and justify the way things are and what she needs to do to survive. Less a novel of plot than a character study in that way.

Not for the squeamish!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gore

jay3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Incest, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse

faerie_child's review

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Acephobia/Arophobia, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Misogyny, and Suicide

kiraniqbal's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Confinement, Death, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, Bullying, and Gaslighting