Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

20 reviews

sophia_'s review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Pregnancy

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Abortion, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Alcoholism, Addiction, Excrement, Classism, and Bullying

katilein's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

4,5 with a different ending. Check the TW before reading.

Great writing but a big bummer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Abortion, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

alysereadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

Devastating view of modern life and the dystopia of the modern world. While I liked the metaphor of the black hole and depression, it felt a little heavy-handed at times. It was still an insightful and quick read and a gutting examination of work culture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

dustghosts's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Abortion, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Child abuse, Infertility, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

rachaelwho's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Deeply depressed and depressing. Everything felt inevitable, though for a brief shining moment here and there I thought that

Cassie would destroy the company before she died

.  That was the main will she/won't she of the book for me, otherwise I could see it all in front of me, but not in a bad way. It did take me a weirdly long time to realize that

Cassie had reproduced her relationship with her parents in her friends

.
I would not have called this magical realism. There's no indication that the black hole is literally, physically there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Addiction, Colonisation, Sexism, and Sexual content

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

An achingly honest and melancholy novel, brimming with anxiety and despair and also a kind of hope. Capitalism is a nightmare, often contrasted with the hugeness of space, making the issues Cassie face feel so small in comparison, though the sadness persists nonetheless. I think I enjoyed this so much because it felt so true to my own feelings of overwhelm, my own experience with start up culture, and how complicated it is to be a person today. So it may not resonate for everyone in the same way, but I felt very seen by this novel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Abortion

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Toxic relationship

dixiecarroll's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

that ending had me !!! Okay so this is not going to be for everyone, but after a few years navigating Goodreads I’ve figured out that books this polarizing on here always end up being my favorites. Cassie works at a toxic start up in Silicon Valley and is miserable (relatable) and she’s followed around by a black hole, which is the physical manifestation of her depression (my mom said this is also very relatable). If you work in corporate America, especially for a start up this is going to be upsetting for you, but I ate it up. Please mind there are a ton of triggers - I’m tagging them on StoryGraph. I recommended it at work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Suicide

clarxvizconde13's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Fatphobia, and Abortion

Minor: Infertility

megwilli's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Toxic relationship

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Ripe is an absolutely brutal masterpiece. Part nuanced portrayal of depression and part damning cultural criticism, Etter's ability to capture the cognitive dissonance of modern life is both unparalleled and wildly disturbing.

Right from the start, Ripe is a ferocious anti-work satire. In the first few pages, Cassie introduces readers to her fellow tech workers aka "Believers." Believers are an unidentifiable horde of tech worshipers who are so plugged in that they have no other discernible traits. Then, in obvious juxtaposition to the Believers' homogenous version of Silicon Valley, Cassie observes the happenings of a variety of homeless encampments. Later, as employees specific to VOYAGER are introduced, their seniority is described via the type of prestige, company-branded athleisure wear that they each proudly don. (CEOs wear half-zips).

Perhaps it was Cassie's black hole or the unsettling Believers, but I initially thought that Ripe was going to be a dystopian novel. However, it quickly became clear that the events in Ripe are set in early 2020. (Headlines mention a new virus that is quickly spreading globally, San Francisco's skies are red with wildfire). Ripe being chock-full of dystopian-esque descriptions of the recent past made me - like Cassie - disassociate from my own reality. (All of that happened!! It's still happening!!)

Last but not least, I greatly admired Etter's ability to make such a bleak story incredibly riveting. Though I found multiple aspects of Ripe to be too personally relatable & on-the-nose, I highly recommend it to anyone who is in a good mental place to handle intense descriptions of depression.

Thank you @netgalley & @scribnerbooks & @sarahroseetter for my advanced reader copy of Ripe in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Classism, Drug abuse, Suicide, Abortion, Bullying, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Medical content