Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

9 reviews

rachaelwho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Sad, abject, revolting, surprising, funny, hopeful, tender, heartbreaking. This book was so fucking weird and so very Miranda July and I really loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Violence and Pregnancy

lexigrce's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

2.5

thought it couldn’t get weirder and then it did again and again and again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Violence

lilmor's review

challenging dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

one of my best friends, a deeply enigmatic middle-aged woman named Aura, emphatically recommended and lent me this book. in retrospect it is exactly the type of thing she would recommend. almost didn’t finish multiple times, powered thru 4 her. experiencing a lot of complex emotions rn; disgust, pity,  tenderness feature prominently. i cannot recommend this book and i cannot give it a star rating. miranda july is a talented writer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Abandonment, Violence, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gore, Bullying, Child death, Toxic relationship, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

michaelion's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Years ago I saw this book in an article that I don't remember the name of, just some list of books to read, don't remember what website either but it was probably some shit like Buzzfeed. If I find what the news source was I swear to the Gods I am NEVER reading an article by them again.

I can't even say it's painfully white more like it's absurdly white. Like I know white people are a different breed but of all the sectors and factons of white folks I've seen I have never encountered this sort of oddity. An absolute strangness. I mean this with the utmost seriousness when I say weirdo behavior.

The writing also isn't all that exciting or riveting. It reads like a debut novel for sure. It didn't grip my attention for very long. The best parts were the gay parts and even those were off.

If you like unreloable narrators (derogatory) and toxic whiteness (EXTREMELY derogatory), this book is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Ableism, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Racism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest

I should disclaim that there's only one antisemitic moment. A character is described a "Jewish looking" instead of, I don't know, describing the character. Also her name is Rachel so double whammy. I also tagged racism because at one point she says Rhodesia and not South African so that's gotta stem from something. Incest is tag because leave it to a friend of Lena Dunham to write a romance between two characters most people perceive as mother and daughter. (I only know she's friends with Lena Dunham because she thanks her in the acknowledgements.)

grannycat's review

medium-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

0.5

Honestly, this book made me feel sick. Take the content warnings seriously - it depicts some very disturbing sexual relationships. One such relationship is between a

man in his late 60s and a 16 year old girl, described in explicit detail and never once portrayed as something harmful. In fact, the young girl seems to exist only as a romantic rival for the older female protagonist.

The protagonist

has detailed sexual fantasies about becoming various men and raping the much younger woman who lives with her. One of these men is the girl’s own father.

All of this is glossed over and just used as character development for the protagonist (who doesn’t develop meaningfully anyway). I really wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. It has its sweet moments, but most of it is weird and fucked up and not worth anyone’s time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Incest

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Self harm, and Antisemitism

rubycs's review

dark slow-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? Yes

2.5

I did not enjoy the narrator, who is unreliable and very mentally ill. I have read other books similar to this and really enjoyed them, such as everyone is this room will someday be dead, but this was too weird.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Blood, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

jonathanlynch's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.0

It was okay! Emphasis on the exclamation point. Some of the language was so grotesque it turned me off from the characters at an early point. Needless to say my relationship with this book started off on the wrong foot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Violence

kamuffel's review

challenging funny medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A great read. Totally absurd. Feels like diving into somebody else's mind and discovering a complete different universe - is this how others think and see the world? Weirdly relatable even though it shouldn't be to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship