Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

26 reviews

m0rdred_the_fallen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

If the ever author ever makes a sequel, I sincerely hope it's about

their son

burning them alive and recording their dying screams of agony for a ringtone, because both Nick and Amy deserved a painful death, but Amy primarily.

Not gonna lie,

Amy

had me fool for the first third of the book, I felt truly sorry for both of them, I mean talk about tragic. But then the second third began and I understood that they truly deserve each other because of how they each feed the other worst side;

Nick is codependent child with daddy issues and Amy is a narcisist with mommy issues that still has beef with a fictional alterego and her seven unborn older sisters. Honestly, neither of them is fit to be a parent.

Go was always the voice of reason and Nick should have been fully honest from the start with her and heed her advice.

Also good ridance to the Elliots, those two should've never been parents and their seven unborn daughters dodged quite the bullet of having such passive-agressive a**hole of parents who wanted a robot, not a child. The irony of them being child psychologists who wrote those awful Amazing Amy books, which I bet my life did more harm than they ever did good to a whole generation.

This is also the only point I concede to Amy, her parents not only built an empire on her back, but also inmortalized every little dissapointment and failure so that she could never forget them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

smallragingoth's review

dark emotional reflective

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Cancer, Misogyny, and Infidelity

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

deviya's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

i—

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Stalking, Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

saraavowlerr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I loved the writing and the overall plot but I’m not a fan of the ending and some parts felt unnecessary. I liked how the plot twist happened more so in the middle but it left the ending sort of boring for me. I liked the back and forth of the characters and as a reader constantly going back and forth who’s crazier. I feel like it’s one of those you can reread and really pick up on personality flaws that may explain the characters from the beginning. I recommend it. But it’s not the best Gillian Flynn book she’s written and it’s definitely not the best thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Dementia, and Sexual content

anastasiak's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Self harm, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

I have had this book on my radar for YEARS, but I finally decided it was time to read it because 1) I found a great copy at a library book sale and 2) it is a great thriller for spooky season. I was utterly blown away by this story and once I picked it up, I could not put it down.
"Gone Girl" follows Nick Dunne, a man whose wife, Amy, goes missing the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary. We know that Nick is hiding something, but did he murder his wife? In between the chapters we get Amy's perspective through letters that shed a lot of light that perhaps this marriage is not as great as we were led to believe.
 

I was really enjoying this story until it is revealed that Amy is still alive. She staged her death and framed her husband so that she could escape her life because she feels like everyone is leaching off of her. I had heard from other people that they really loved Amy because she is such a "boss bitch", but I did not get that vibe from her at all. Amy really infuriated me as a character because she is such a toxic person. Nick is not a terrible person, and he does not deserve to be framed and sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. Yes, he cheated on Amy and had an ongoing affair, and that is inexcusable, but there is NO justification for Amy to behave as she did. She came across as an entitled woman who threw a hissy fit when things did not go her way. She is a highly unlikeable character, and I disliked her so much that I ended up empathizing with Nick for most of the novel.
Amy aside, I really enjoyed this story. The writing and prose are so beautiful and poetic. Nick is a writer, and his inner dialogue is enchanting to read. Gillian Flynn knows how to write the perfect prose that is not too flowery but still so eloquent and captivating. This mystery was also riveting. We know very early on that everyone has something to hide, but it takes a while to peel back all of the layers and uncover what the truth is. I have really grown fond of domestic thrillers and this one set the bar high.

 
This was the perfect thriller for me, and ultimately, I only subtracted half a star because of how much I disliked Amy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Blood, Misogyny, and Torture

mle11's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking, Cancer, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Classism, Infertility, Vomit, and Miscarriage

louisegraveyard's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Dementia, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body shaming, Violence, Bullying, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

samflowerv6's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

A masterpiece

“Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.

Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl. For a long time Cool Girl offended me. I used to see men – friends, coworkers, strangers – giddy over these awful pretender women, and I’d want to sit these men down and calmly say: You are not dating a woman, you are dating a woman who has watched too many movies written by socially awkward men who’d like to believe that this kind of woman exists and might kiss them. I’d want to grab the poor guy by his lapels or messenger bag and say: The bitch doesn’t really love chili dogs that much – no one loves chili dogs that much! And the Cool Girls are even more pathetic: They’re not even pretending to be the woman they want to be, they’re pretending to be the woman a man wants them to be. Oh, and if you’re not a Cool Girl, I beg you not to believe that your man doesn’t want the Cool Girl. It may be a slightly different version – maybe he’s a vegetarian, so Cool Girl loves seitan and is great with dogs; or maybe he’s a hipster artist, so Cool Girl is a tattooed, bespectacled nerd who loves comics. There are variations to the window dressing, but believe me, he wants Cool Girl, who is basically the girl who likes every fucking thing he likes and doesn’t ever complain. (How do you know you’re not Cool Girl? Because he says things like: “I like strong women.” If he says that to you, he will at some point fuck someone else. Because “I like strong women” is code for “I hate strong women.”)” 

“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.” 

“Tampon commercial, detergent commercial, maxi pad commercial, windex commercial - you'd think all women do is clean and bleed.” 

“It’s a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.” 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Stalking, and Miscarriage

rakizaka's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Dementia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest, Vomit, Abortion, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Cancer, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy