Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

23 reviews

krystlethegreat's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Adding 0.25 for great audio narration by a cast of narrators.

Definitely atmospheric. Loved the setting and feel of the location. I great up on Puget Sound and ferries and can totally picture this little island that tourists flock to, but that is draped in magic and mystery. 

Looking through the lense of our main characters, I can see how we have such limited information. 
As a reader, I felt like, since we had multiple points of view, we should have known our older generation characters better.

Overall, a great cozy, atmospheric mystery/thriller that will keep you guessing without giving you anxiety.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug use

fionamatilda's review

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, and Toxic friendship

slvt4b00ks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.5

I read this book very fast so I would say I was invested in how things turned out but the only wow factor was really the twist at the end.  The author does paint a very vivid picture with beautiful words which I can appreciate, but I just felt like it fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

yruss972's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

More a mystery book than anything else. Similar to Harlan Coben books- mystery from the past comes to light in the present.
Very little magic involved.
Pseudo-suspenseful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy

heatherjchin's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Self harm, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

ravenwolf_waf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.0

Review on my IG -> @Katie_the_Wandering_Reader

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping

carliedawn88's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship

bakunzi1990's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Damn this isn't my normal type of read at all. But this was so amazing. The setting was my favorite following closely with the writing. The World building was top notch and also extremely believable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Stalking

kates_books's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A perfect spooky season read. The setting of the island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest was vivid and darkly beautiful. The entire story was deeply atmospheric. The mystery, its twists and turns and all the secrets of the novel were entrancing. The secrets of all the characters made each one so deep and complex. 

 Other thoughts:

• Genre: magical realism mixed with mystery with a sprinkle of romance 
• I liked how natural the magic was and how seamless it was interwoven throughout the story. It was never really explained as to its origins, it was just part of the setting. 
• It would have been interesting to hear more of the relationship between Hannah, Eloise, and nixie 
• I get that the orchard was the backbone of the community, but resorting to murder for it seems a little dramatic. Especially when it was pretty clear that august would have been fine giving it to the town
   
• I think Dutch’s character was perfectly written. A deeply flawed individual but his anger issues are easy to understand. His actions are messed up but make sense. 
• once we found out lily was pregnant, I had a feeling that her death would be self-caused. But I was surprised that it was caused by such hatred. I think this was the most unbelievable part of the story / the least thought out. We kind of got SMALL glimpses that lily was an erratic, irresponsible, impulsive girl — but I didn’t see any signs of hate or apathy. Jealously, insecurity, and maybe loneliness would be easy to understand, but her cruelty, maliciousness, and hatred seemed too out of character.
   
• Emery and August’s love was so pure 
• Emery’s grandmother was a fantastic character
• I think this story did a great job at taking off the rose colored glasses people have on for small, rural towns. It shows that they can just as dark and corrupt. People turning a blind eye to harm they know is happening because of power and money. 
• I wish we had returned to the part of Jakob beating august before he and his mom left town. It was only alluded to once and I think it needed more reflection. Similarly, we never found out how started the fire on the truck.
• We never really find out what the birds mean. It kind of seems like they are actors of the island. But whether they are good or bad omens is unclear.  But maybe that is just the magic being something beyond explanation. 
• I was just about to write that we never really get an explanation for emerys dream. The one where she hears screaming and is holding someone down to drown them only to realize it’s herself. But I think knowing that lily intended to kill emery through drowning explains it. It mirrors the horror of lily murdering herself.
  . 
• The setting gave spooky twilight vibes 
• 
  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Death, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Minor: Domestic abuse