Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

3 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 The Details:
 Narrated by Farrah Cave and Beth Easdown
Unabridged 

Absolutely adored Every Exquisite Thing, so was excited to see that Steven's debut was available through my library app.

This is a sapphic, modern gothic retelling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
I'm not sure if it wad the share name of Lottie combined with the sapphic grumpy x sunshine, but it at first had a wholesome likness to The Rosewood Chronicles. It also reminded me of Claire and Elise from The Coldest Touch.

This was such a good story! 
I definitely see improvements in storytelling and writing style in the delivery of the modern gothic/dark academia genre, going back to this after reading Every Exquisite Thing, but it wasn't off putting.

The conversations did feel a little more juvenile than I'd expected but it was easily overlooked once I connected to the characters and got really invested in the story.

This inspiration of the classic has made me appreciate the themes of mental health that the original introduces.

I hope there are more in to come from these retellings, as I see these as becoming very beloved.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual harassment, Murder, Sexual content, Bullying, Child death, Toxic relationship, Gore, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

3.25

    Lottie and Alice start at the newly reopened  Carvell College of Arts. But history starts to repeat itself as a new series of killings start, eerily similar to the ones from ten years ago that caused it to close its doors. 
    This book is reported to be dark and "funny". Dark yes, funny much less so. The animal murder is resolved in a way that makes it less traumatic to the reader, but at the time it happens it's very dark and disturbing. As an animal lover, I had to stop reading the book for the day after that scene.
    I get where the author was coming from with the message about female anger and how it needs to be accepted and we need to change the sexism in the world. I really wish the author had stayed away from harming animals. I'm a person who prefers human death to animal death in fiction.
    The book was decent. I liked the premise but the execution wasn't as good as possible. 

Extra ratings: Fluff - 0/5  Heartfelt- 4/5   Helpful-NA    Horror- 3/5    Inspiration- NA   Love aka Romance-2/5   Mystery-3/5    Predictability- 3/5    Spice- 0/5  Suspense- 2/5   Tear 3.5/5  Thrill- 3.5/5  Humor-1/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Confinement, and Self harm

Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, and Dementia

hayleythegoose's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Violence, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

Minor: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship