Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

8 reviews

starsnstitchin's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Outing, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, and Vomit

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.25

This was a super cute book. I had to see it aside at first because I had trouble getting into it, but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, there wasn’t anything special enough to get this to four stars. The other odd good books I’ve read were much better, but I think this was his debut YA book, and it was a solid very good, and there were several moments I nearly spit up my drink while laughing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Grief

booksandmagic's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent

annorabrady's review

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

I love TJ Klune's writing and dialogue style, and this book is no exception to that love.  

This book is a great palate cleanser without being meaningless fluff; there was still a solid story with character development of primary and secondary characters alike, realistic behaviors in unrealistic situations, and worthwhile conflicts.

I will say that Nick's stupidity is both endearing and absolutely obnoxious. Especially when it causes certain plot points to carry on too long for my liking. Though, it's done in a way that makes sense for the character, so it doesn't feel unnecessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence, Medical trauma, Death, Kidnapping, Vomit, Drug use, Gaslighting, Murder, and Stalking

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

Fun queer-centric superhero romp, protagonist has ADHD. Some violence.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Kidnapping and Death of parent

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

there's something about men in the TJ Kluniverse (yes, i am proud of myself for that, thank you) that's a lot better than irl (in my experience of course), especially dads… consider it part of the apologetic parents canon: https://www.vox.com/culture/23025832/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-parental-apology-fantasy-turning-red. however, this romanticizing of characters also extends to cops, making for some strong copaganda—especially awkward given the book's release in summer 2020. one of its major themes is the myth of good vs. evil and of black & white thinking, yet this only applies to our fictional superheroes and not the institution of policing we actually live with—no no, the police are always unquestionably "the good guys" 🙃. there's even a moment where we're made to sympathize with a cop in a literal act of police brutality, punching a witness (a witness, not even a suspected perpetrator) for not cooperating. we see how much he was going through at the time; maybe we should extend that understanding to other cops who abuse their power? or, maybe a different superhero story got it right: "with great power comes great responsibility," and as such it's reasonable to expect protection from those whose job it is (supposedly) to "protect and serve". another of Klune's books, The House in the Cerulean Sea, used fantastical metaphor to make a political statement; i can't help but see as a glaring omission how The Extraordinaries falls short in that regard.
big thought out of the way, here are some scattered ones:

• there was a lot of build up and the climax seemed to drag on, but insufficient payoff. (though, at least there was any payoff at all, unlike Fence: Striking Distance. that's not relevant here, i just hold a grudge.)
• for the amount of times the narration described what teenage boys are like, i started to think maybe it was the author trying to convince us that he knew, like "how do you do fellow kids"
• it was genuinely funny
• audiobook reader was top tier 👌
• "I'm young and queer and in a fragile place right now." me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Medical content, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Police brutality, Stalking, Vomit, Car accident, Classism, and Drug use

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

3.0

This was light and fun with some interesting plot twists. A cool premise, reminiscent of The Incredibles. It did get a little repetitive at a point, and I think it could've been very condensed - the dramatic irony stretched out a little too long for my taste, and the scenes with Nick's father felt a bit melodramatic. I'd've preferred a tighter narrative, but it was a fun time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

The main character's father is a policeman and his closest friend is the police chief; something to be aware of if sensitive to

nothingrhymeswithrachel's review against another edition

slow-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

1.75

Oh my god this book was so frustrating. First, the pro-police stance is gross. Nick’s dad should have been fired, not just demoted and then PROMOTED AT THE END OF THE BOOK. Beyond the constant police dick-sucking going on, the relationships sucked. Every. single. one. Between Nick and his dad? Toxic. Nick and Seth? Seth deserved better. Owen and Nick? What the fuck even was that? Gibby and Jazz? They’re fine I guess but we didn’t see them much. Jazz was my favorite character in this whole book because she minded her own freaking business. Also, can we talk about how actually STUPID Nick is? Dumb. A dumb man. Just because you’re aware that you’re a dumb teenage boy doesn’t make it okay. It is so infuriating to read. Oh my god. Jazz is the only reason this got any stars from me. I am mainly mad at myself because I know I’m going to read the whole trilogy even though they are probably all going to suck like this. Oh well. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit