Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

68 reviews

iamloreal's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

An ode to the classic “Carrie” with a refreshing modern twist, that creates a fantastical story about what microagressions, racism, hypocrisy, societal influence, and psychological abuse can do to a person. The origin of her power really got me thinking about the one drop rule through the lens of “evil”, ancestry and epigenetics. The term “I am not my ancestors” hold a different weight in this story. I have so much more I want to say but I don’t want to write an essay. So many connections made in this story. I loved it and I want MORE! #RighteousRage

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Toxic relationship, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Classism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs

bexgil's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Racism, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Gore, and Emotional abuse

thisisemily's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Weight of Blood is a modern re-telling of Carrie centered around systemic racism and the impact that these outdated and backwoods values have on the youth of our nation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Classism

modernmatilda's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Carrie by Stephen King is one of my favorites; I'm fascinated by all of the differences between the book, the movies, the musical, and so on. Not to mention the gore and utter chokehold that Carrie in her final stage has on me. I was excited to start The Weight of Blood, with a fresh take on the trauma Maddy/"Carrie" endures. I think this book would make an excellent selection for book discussion groups who would be able to discuss race, belonging, guilt, obligations, first love, parental control, and so much more. I loved listening to the cast of multiple narrators. I do wish the scare/gore/haunting factor of the book would have been dialed up; it felt incredibly soft and the climax was borderline boring (where was the fire? the death? the scary factor?). I would recommend this book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Death, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship

tamika_j's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is a reminder of the movie Carrie but this is truly real life segregation, bullying and racism. A small town that hides its secrets from the wide larger population of the world and the rest of America. A small town that still wants to believe there world is based on whiteness and oppression. Being black in this town means you have to be good at sports or corporate white supremacy. 

Maddie was a girl who had a heart but was never accepted because of her race and home life, her father history of abuse caused him to raise Maddie and keep her hiding as he seen fit as a black country man. 

Be prepared for pain and revenge you want on so many people in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Stalking, Murder, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, and Death

imanin10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Police brutality, Cancer, Death of parent, Bullying, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Grief, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Toxic friendship

disguisedposer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Death, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

hudsononaux's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Racism, Hate crime, Violence, Confinement, Body horror, Grief, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Police brutality and Racial slurs

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

5.0

From the cover, it was easy to see this would be a retelling of Stephen King’s Carrie. I loved it. I loved the story but didn’t care for the way the story was told through interviews. Really great way to study race. Another book I would like to teach to high school students. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure Texas has banned good book in the schools. Grrr…for that reason alone, I’m upgrading this to a five.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Suicide, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence

mmiamuse's review against another edition

I did not enjoy the heaviness of this book as it relates to racism and "blackphobia". The character were unlikable for me. I read for enjoyment. Reading this felt like a chore so I DNF.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Mental illness