Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

68 reviews

bossybookworm345's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

Writing was beautiful and poetic without being too serious, but it was dark and a little confusing. It also was only about a single weekend with multiple flashbacks involved, which was fine but meant that not much actually happened; most of the work/events were internal. Also this is just a personal preference but I was really unsatisfied with how things ended

 

loved the realistic depiction of microagressions and wasn’t too upset with how weirdly tense and violent the relationship of the main character got, but neither of them felt resolved in anyway whatsoever by the end of the book. Not even in a “oh this didn’t end positively/sometimes the bad guys win” kind of way; the situations just didn’t “end” at all. But if you’re not upset about cliffhangers or don’t need your books to be wrapped up neatly with a bow, you’ll likely enjoy the story

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Toxic relationship

stierwood's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Everything about this book made sense. It had me thinking about whiteness in communication and friendships, and Wallace was a character exploration i had never read anything like. At first i was like ok, enough with the birds, but by the end i feel like i got it. Just really freaking astute, gutting, challenging, everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Racism, Mental illness, Homophobia, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Rape, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

navery's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Vomit

Moderate: Toxic relationship

kers_tin's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Homophobia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Body shaming

Minor: Misogyny and Suicidal thoughts

yaelm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

יש לי בעיה קשה עם הספר הזה, כי הוא כתוב -נהדר- ממש, וחלקים גדולים ממנו מופלאים ברמת חמישה כוכבים, אבל החלקים שלא כ״כ מעצבנים שאני לא יכולה, פשוט לא יכולה, לדרג ביותר משלושה.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Rape, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Classism, and Alcohol

frankieclc's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, Death of parent, Vomit, and Homophobia

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Eating disorder, and Child abuse

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

Hard to read because there’s a lot of unresolved pain. Good antiracist and anti homophobic food for thought. A little too detailed on the science, but I like learning, so I won’t complain to much. Graphic content warning for sex, violence, and grief. Three stars because I wish the writing had been a little stronger. But upgrading to four stars because the characters were so vulnerable to the reader and sometimes with each other.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Grief, Homophobia, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

foxblood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was a little hard for me to push through in the last third - definitely check TWs prior. Regardless, I really enjoyed certain aspects of this book, and it will certainly stick with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Eating disorder

nicola4e's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, and Homophobia

mraddant's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual violence