Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

358 reviews

louise_mc2's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

The writing was really engaging and insightful, and the characters also feel engaging at first but unfortunately it feels like it doesn't go anywhere

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

joscelynhe's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-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

2.5

Overrated. Didn’t like the writing style (nothing that was actually “said” was put in quotes - it was more distracting than anything else and I couldn’t get used to it the entire book). I felt so much secondhand embarrassment over every other interaction that the two main characters had with each other and with friends/family. Neither of them know how to communicate effectively and so you end up following the story of this on-again-off-again young couple who are not very likable to begin with and who end up not growing or learning much AT ALL by the end of the story. UGH. I’m so frustrated. I haven’t read a book this disappointing in a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lunar_witch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

maozeydong's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Classism

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

jc626's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

1.0

Main characters were not normal people

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

quixie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Abortion

raconteur's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

The book is engaging, the characters are complicated and have many issues: personal and interpersonal (The health issues, the anxiety, and the eating disorder were so evident and made me sad).
Their relationship is TOXIC,

and I hope and believe they didn't get back together after that one year

, showing what many people live.
Connel made my blood boil in many situations. He is absolutely problematic, in my pov, but he was well written. Marianne is complex, too, and it's quite interesting to read more about their journey and toxic emotional attachment to each other.

What annoyed me at first was the lack of quotation marks, but I got used to it.
Also, it includes some Marxist, political, and historical references. The author, herself, is known for her Marxist takes, too.

A couple of books Marianne and Connell read (in the book and the show): 

• The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• In Seach of Time by Marcel Proust
• The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
• Emma by Jane Austen
• Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
• A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter
• Selected Poems by Frank O’Hara
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
• In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop
• Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
• Ulysses, by James Joyce
• Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire Connell
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• All My Sons  by Arthur Miller
• Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido (in the background in the show)
• A novel by James Salter

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

whitne_ey's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Blood, Abortion, and Alcohol

weirdf1shy's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book will stay with me. As soon as I started it I was wrapped into the story. The synopsis sounded to me like the average story of two young people and their drama but it is so much more than that. This story is beautiful and Sally Rooney told it in such a descriptive and raw way. I look forward to reading more from her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail