Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

139 reviews

patty_k's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Murder, Mental illness, Child death, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

angievansprang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I finished this within 36 hours of starting it, so I obviously had a good time with it. Read this if you want to hate men more! I promise you, there are zero redeeming male characters in this that are mentioned more than 3x. They are all complete trash. Hawkins paints a drearily pitiful scene over an otherwise picturesque suburbia outside of London. This follows 3 different POVs of women who are all connected via relation to the same neighborhood where something - or someone - sinister is brewing. I felt that the author did a good job in allowing you to feel just enough sympathy towards a character before twisting your stomach into knots with a horrific reveal of who they truly were. Most of these characters are hopelessly tragic, yet very realistic. The circumstances by which each main character finds themselves in this neighborhood make it believable why they might behave the way they do. While it may not initially seem like it, this is a chilling tale about the strength in women following their instincts and sticking together despite being very much so at odds with one another. A true feat of a debut from Hawkins, and it has reignited my love for thrillers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Murder, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Fatphobia, Child death, Physical abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death and Vomit

cee_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

Overall this book is well written and has great consistency. I didn't feel any attachment to the characters and found them all hypocritical but that adds to the story and the character development of Rachel is slow and small but it's obvious and makes you cheer for her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Infertility, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

jacau's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Vomit, Violence, and Toxic relationship

tahnnn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

easy, enjoyable read though a predictable plot twist and the end felt quite boring and dragged out.

not a single likeable character with little to no development, it was impossible to root for anyone (except maybe the train itself).

probably one of the best openings to a book i’ve seen, had me hooked instantly but was 100% a let down at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Fatphobia

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Pregnancy, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Stalking, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

corriejn's review

4.25

Not my most typical fare, but I found it very engaging. Decidedly not a light read, and note the major CW for active alcohol addiction, but I was pretty hooked throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Physical abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Drug use

sarahmmichael's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, and Addiction

marissanbullis's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Murder

lunalikesbooksss's review against another edition

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

This book was boring af. I would have given up if I had physically read the book instead of the audibook. I even had to listen to it on a faster speed than I normally do. 

I get it, Rachel is an alcoholic, but omg she was insufferable. Constantly doing dumb shit and apologing over and over. The rest of the main cast sucked too. They were all their own brand of awful. 

I didn't even feel bad for the victim because she was also awful! I only kept going because I really wanted to know who was the murderer. 

The reason for the murder had me rolling my eyes. It was for such an obvious and basic reason. 

Why did Rachel keep remembering things when it was already established that she didn't form memories while blocked out?! Ridiculous

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Murder, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Grief