Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

29 reviews

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Body horror

If you have arachnophobia, do not read this.

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted medium-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

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley but all thoughts are my owns. 

This is such a cozy little horror novel. It doesn't lean into the horror as much as I think it could have but it was a really great read. It's definitely the book is give people if someone asked about my taste in literature. 

Also as someone who is afraid of spiders, this book did a great job at endearing them to me which is quite a feat. 

<Spoiler> I do feel that maybe Sophie was forcing her world view on Annie a bit much but then I think most of the conflict in the book wouldn't have happened so probably necessary in this case.  </Spoiler>

I do feel like  Annie's dependency on alcohol probably could have done with a bit more serious discussion. 

Overall great read though. Very much enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and Eating disorder

saltycoffee's review against another edition

dark medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Vomit

brindolyn's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, War, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Bullying

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

I picked this up because I wanted something spooky, but still lighthearted and easy to read, and the good news was that this delivered. While Rachel Harrison’s writing WAS easy to read though, I found her writing flowed really well and was very introspective. Premise of the book sounds like a pitch for a sitcom, which for me is a plus. If it WAS a sitcom I would watch 10 seasons of it. Good read if you know what to expect!

I deducted .5 because Annie and Sophie never kissed. And another .5 because at a certain point it was just unbelievable to me that Annie moves to a pretty new town where she befriends a LITERAL WITCH who cooks for her and makes her dresses and shows her her own magic powers AND has a cute little spider side-kick….and she’s STILL thinking about her loser ex-boyfriend? She’s literally insane. Also I really thought for a minute there that all the character development we did manage to get from her would be undone when she decided to see Sam. I literally had zero faith in her. None whatsoever. So a pleasant surprise she turned it around in the end. Anyways, Annie and Sophie should have kissed. I don’t care if Sophie was a little toxic. I support women’s wrongs. Otherwise pretty solid read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

lil_saddie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

mondovertigo's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexism and Body shaming

aimzthereader's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Didn’t like any of the charaxters, the spiders creeped me out, I got angry at a ton of the decisions… yet I still really enjoyed the book . The writing was really great . She decscribed loneliness, heartbreak, anxiety, depression, and unease very well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infidelity

ohhthehorrors's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, and Toxic relationship