Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

26 reviews

caro_shelves's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book! The writing is impeccable, and Lux's gradual weaving of the story gradually draws you in. What appears to be a simple, tragic family drama is intricately connected to Peyote and Calamity's work in Hell. It's excellent. There were so many moments that had me gasping out loud. It's worth the read if you like a bit of mystery alongside your horror and humor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Gore, Toxic friendship, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Trafficking, Torture, Alcohol, Violence, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

spicycronereads's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted sad tense medium-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

4.0

I listened to the audiobook, performed by Macleod Andrews and Brittany Pressley. It was a lot of fun.

This book is really hard to describe. It is part absurd workplace comedy (where the workplace is hell) and part thriller. 

There are two parallel narratives, one following Peyote Trip, the hell salesperson charged with closing deals. We see what happens to his work life when a new woman joins the organization. The other narrative centers on a family going to their summer house in New Hampshire. 

The first half of the book really centers on the absurdity of hell and building the tension around this family’s summer vacation. And then it takes a pretty dark turn and the thriller aspects ramp up. 

I won’t say much more for fear of spoiling it but there is character development and it happens in some surprising ways. Speaking of surprises, I guessed a few of the twists but at least one got me. 

There is pretty much no diverse representation. Everyone is white and the family on earth has multi-generational wealth. 

The audio performances are great. I loved Macleod Andrew’s’ take on Peyote’s voice and Brittany Pressley really brought bone head teenage boys to life while simultaneously capturing women in a variety of ages. 

Overall, I really enjoyed it. To the point that when I got home from work yesterday with only an hour left to go, I listened to the rest from the couch (I normally only listen while driving or doing housework). It also made me feel totally justified in my dislike of Jagermeister. 😂 IYKYK. It is a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, Torture, and Self harm

Moderate: Infidelity and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Cult,

samisreading's review

challenging dark funny tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Gun violence, Child death, Classism, and Murder

reedcodes's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Self harm, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Cursing

Minor: Cancer, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, and Pedophilia

esme_may's review

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Infidelity, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Body horror, Torture, Suicide, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion, War, Car accident, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Medical content

hippie_raccoon's review

dark emotional 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

2.0

Man. What a letdown of a book. Initially I was drawn into the Hell/Earth storylines. But the Earth storyline just does a lot of word-dump explanation of events in the last 25% of the book. And the Hell storyline.... It felt like it could have been entirely removed from the book and it wouldn't have changed anything about what was going on with the Harrison's. 
All in all I feel like this was an interesting concept with potential, but wasn't executed in any impressive manner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Self harm, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Alcohol, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pregnancy

margaret721's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Body horror, Violence, Child death, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, and Trafficking

javablue's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

I feel like the big reveal she wanted us to understand that tied it all together was either too subtle and we missed it or it didn’t exist at all. It was a difficult read and I don’t feel like it came together in a gratifying way that made it worth it in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming and Toxic friendship

booksnbrooches's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was compulsively readable, I will give it that. However, I was very mislead by the book marketing on BOTM’s app. It has the book labeled as humorous, and IT AIN’T. Sure, there are some dark humor elements. But this read is depressing and upsetting. Triggers galore. 

The mystery part was interesting, but easy to figure out in my opinion. I think my own expectations let me down with wanting a whimsical story about Hell’s bureaucracy. I repeat, this was not that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship

esemple's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia