Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Upstairs House: A Novel by Julia Fine

7 reviews

sassyram's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Biphobia, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Self harm

Minor: War, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse

jaimc's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Fatphobia

giannacolo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Postpartum distress and issues

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Pregnancy

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

The Upstairs House is an unflinching descent into postpartum depression. Megan's continuous insistence to herself (and others) that everything is just fine as she falls apart is absolutely devastating. Haunting as a metaphor for mental illness works so well in this novel. I applaud Julia Fine for her nuanced take on this all-too-real subject matter.

All that being said, the formatting of this book left a little to be desired. Megan's haunting is constantly interrupted by her own academic writing (which works) and flashback vignettes featuring Margaret and Michael (which doesn't work). The flashbacks seemed unnecessary. As a reader, I already knew about Michael and Margaret's characters through their haunting and through Megan's dissertation. I honestly didn't care that much about their pasts and would have preferred more focus on Megan and the way they influenced her. This was her story, not theirs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Lesbophobia

thefaultismine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

racl's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I believe it's a fine line to walk when writing a horror piece that deals with any sort of mental health to maintain a certain level of respect, and the author did a good job in this work! It would hit harder for parents, I think, but I found the characters very intriguing and was interested in the turns the story would take.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Homophobia

strickortreat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I feel like I need to read this a couple more times to actually get the message as I’m still very lost, but I enjoyed reading it anyways! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship