Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

19 reviews

bookeduntil's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, Body horror, Violence, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit and Child abuse

assesgrass's review

4.5

Just like Home by Sarah Gailey. 4.5/5 ⭐️. 

i have so much to say about this. 

first, the characters are extremely unlovable for me personally, there’s nothing really about any of them besides the fact that getting loved by a parent even if they’re a horrible person feels a certain way. The characters are meh. 

Second, this is very much like a long read in the sense that there’s heavy plot in the like 85% but it’s like dragging on. I was looking forward to Vera’s younger point of views so much i didn’t wanna read about her getting a bed nah i wanted to read about her finding out her dad was a murderer. 

third, there’s some gruesome writing involving body horror with children and children having violent thoughts. 

near the end it reminded me of that 2006 film “Monster House” but the ending gets left off really abruptly i think, makes me think Vera is gonna take on her fathers traits. 

i will add, fuck daphne.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Vomit

bambooboy's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

A meditation on monsters and the nature of evil. What makes a monster? And how do we truly know when we are confronted with one? This is a book about (un)conditional love, dysfunctional relationships, and the evil we all try to push down within us. It’s about the things we do to try to be loved, especially when we don’t really know what love is supposed to look like. 

This is a book about monsters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Grief, Torture, Blood, Death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Self harm, Vomit, Child abuse, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Mental illness, and Gore

Minor: Bullying

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Torture

coddiwomple's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

As a person that has lived in a house filled with a strange kind of love and abusive parents, this book was both thrilling and difficult to read. I've read many reviews by folks saying they don't understand this book or understand what Sarah Gailey was trying to do. Perhaps this book wasn't written for those people. This book contains a representation of trauma and domestic violence that isn't easily rendered in fiction. Yes it is slow paced, but each line has a purpose if you read carefully.

This book is about love, is about homes and what they hold after the people that built them are no longer the same or are gone, is about tension, is about things left unsaid, is about parents and how they shape us, about fear of ourselves and everyone else, and about embracing the ugly, greasy, and the foul. This is not a pretty book, but I do think it's one worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Blood, Toxic friendship, Excrement, and Torture

Minor: Violence and Sexual harassment

grey_jayne's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

In case you don't know by now, Sarah Gailey does not disappoint.

This simmering pot of a story is deceptive, skillfully maintaining its mystery while slowly allowing the reader in on what has transpired in the past and ultimately what is truly going on in the present.  As always, the book is so well written and the narrative so assertive that I couldn't help but enjoy the ride while not knowing where we were going at all.  Eventually, there comes payoff after payoff,  cascading revelations of wonderment, as we barrel toward a highly satisfying conclusion.

I honestly don't know what my favorite Sarah Gailey book is because they're all great and this is no exception. Excellent as always.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror and Toxic friendship

jkpiowa's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Dementia

ameliapond1434's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

laguerrelewis's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book since the abstract was released, and boy did it deliver. Sarah Gailey has a way of communicating emotion, atmosphere, and history that is unparalleled. Their characters are complex, and they have a wonderful gift for exploring internal life through the fantastical. Just Like Home offers a moving, disturbing, cathartic analysis of love, family, morality, abuse, and the things that shape us. This is a work of unflinching, raw vulnerability, and if you can handle it then I would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Murder, Gore, Grief, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Vomit

Moderate: Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Suicidal thoughts