Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

משפחה של שקרנים by E. Lockhart, א' לוקהארט

40 reviews

oldemort's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is my third time reading this book, and my rating is still 4 ⭐️.

I love the way that E. Lockhart writes. 🤩 Specifically how she describes characters. 🥰 If I could pick one author to describe me, I’d pick her. 🙃 I also really like the way that her characters aren’t perfect, and the way the characters sometimes call out the other characters. 😅

Like when Penny is being kind of rude to Carrie, but what she’s saying is true. 🥲

Obviously, I’d hate for that to happen to me in real life though, I’d probably cry for hours. 😂

Despite the fact that I’ve read this book three times now,

every time I forget that Harris isn’t Carrie’s real father. 😱

I really like that aspect to the story though. 😌

The only specific thing that I don’t like about this book is how

Carrie explains how she helped her sisters cover up the murder of Pfeff, and says that it was Bess who killed him. 😑 I understand that the author wanted another, bigger plot twist when it was revealed that it was actually Carrie who killed Pfeff, but I feel like it was just unnecessary. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I think I would’ve preferred it if it was just revealed straight away that Carrie was the one who killed him. 🫣

But overall, I really like this book and it’s made me really excited for summer! ☀️ (Despite the fact that it’s February. 🥶)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Classism

Minor: Cursing, Slavery

lothach's review against another edition

3.0

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I much preferred We Were Liars but this one was alright I guess. All of the like bits I loved in We Were Liars was not in this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder

nagaakil's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment

books_hay's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Alcohol

_eleanorgreen8_'s review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I really enjoyed this book - much more than We Were Liars. It was a good holiday read and incredibly absorbing, but also pretty dark and troubling. E Lockhart's writing so skilfully conjures emotions and a sense of place, and the use of description and listing is so satisfying. I felt totally involved in the narrator's world, as her thoughts and emotions were constantly being expressed and explained. The one thing I liked less about the book was the plot twist at the end - I felt it didn't make sense and wasn't really necessary, though i guess it did add another layer to the story. Overall, this book was gripping and thought provoking and I definitely would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, Sexual harassment

stitchbooks22's review against another edition

2.0

slow-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

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This was garbage, but still not the worst thing I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Wow. Just WOW. I loved it much more than I thought. Maybe more than the 1st one. An eye for an eye. A son for a son.

  Carrie killed Pfeff, causing his mother and father to lose their first born. And years later, she suffered from the same fate. 

I didn’t expect the twist but I spoiled it for myself anyway, it was surprisingly not shocking. She did say she was a liar. Bro and Penny. Ugh, forcing herself to be straight. Wow. The book was heartbreaking, especially considering the people they become. Which isn’t too great, but it makes sense now why they are the way they are.

BRO THE DAD HELPED THEM COVER UP THE MURDER. HE TOOK THE BOARD. Ugh Carrie is also an unreliable narrator just like Candace was. Fuck bro.

And don’t get me started on Rosemary.

She saw her for 5 summers. Her baby sister that drowned.

Ugh. I wish penny could be out. I just want people to be happy in this book, but literally no one is ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism

kccool12255's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Though I was a bit apprehensive about Carrie being the star of our story, I believe that this prequel absolutely lives up to the original novel. Cadence has a very unique voice, easy to follow along with, and Carrie’s has much of that same tone. I enjoyed the boys in the story

(except for Pfeff, of course)

. I love the plot, and didn’t expect any of the plot twists that came. I DO think that Bess could’ve been included more,

and the whole Pfeff-Penny-r*pe storyline made me uncomfortable . And sorry, but I don’t think that Penny’s bi (she stuffed it down, fine, but I just don’t think it fits up with her character, sorry)

. Ending could’ve been better. Overall though, an amazing experience. 

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the first book, and murder mysteries.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Blood, Vomit

corabookworm's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I think I actually enjoyed this book a little more than the first, at times. The random bits of poetry were a bit distracting and unnecessary (the writing was prose-like enough already), but E. Lockhart is an amazing author who wrote this mysterious, drama-infused, family-focused story in a gorgeous way. I loved how this book talked about family, and some of the moments between them all (especially towards the end) were absolutely adorable. Highly recommend if you enjoyed the first one or any books like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Murder

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury

mororke's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism