Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

91 reviews

cass_reads_98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Dark academia? WLW romance? Some really moreally grey decsisons? Yes, yes, and yes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Self harm

tulilipz's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

wait what????? but i still have so many questions 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Racism, and Classism

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

4.5

4.5 rounded up! This was fantastic and I couldn't stop reading (finished it in one sitting XD). And honestly the moment

Ellis was like, let's reenact the murders, I was like NO BAD IDEA XD

and I was right.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Vomit

lqvekanej's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Cursing and Sexual content

miabellawymer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

Read at your own risk. 

Oh my God. This book drove me insane. I was captivated from the start, and this book will haunt me for years. Felicity and Ellis are both nuts in their own way, and it makes for an intriguing read. The end, however, was dissatisfying. What the hell was that. I am traumatised.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

_ladypearce_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

well_read_unicorn's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Background parental neglect

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

This book is decent but I don't feel it fully delivers on the themes that it sets up at the beginning of the book. It always felt like I was waiting for something more interesting to happen, which it did on occasion but not enough to warrant a higher rating. I feel that the author unintentionally pointed out in the acknowledgements section of the book when she said she had a notebook of unwritten ideas, and she chose several to string together.

Felicity and Ellis were both strong characters, but I think the supporting cast could have been better utilised. Case in point

the biggest contribution of one of the side characters, a Black girl, was to talk about the school's racist past and how her grandmother was one of the first Black alumna. Since she didn't really get much to do outside of that role, she came across as a bit of a caricature instead of the critique of how white academia is that the author probably intended

.

If it's one thing the book has going for it, it's the atomosphere. Lee manages to perfectly capture the feeling of a gothic boarding school isolated from the rest of the world, and the girls that inhabit it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content

minary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

monaluffy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Yes! A dark academia book with witchy vibes that I LIKED!!!!! I wasn't dissapointed AT ALL, Love to hate this characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and Emotional abuse

Minor: Eating disorder