Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

87 reviews

rorykluciarova's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kshertz's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It was an interesting read. I did not go into it knowing very much. I really enjoyed the beginning in the premise that set up about unreliable narrators and trying to figure out what’s going on with these two girls. Also trying to figure out what happened with Alex. But it jumps around a lot which can make it hard to follow. There’s animal cruelty for seemingly no reason. I don’t fully connect with the characters and don’t really care what ended up happening to them so I can’t really recommend it. I’m not really loving that it seems to say killing people is so awesome. Some other review said “sorry, killing is not supposed to be a girl boss move” and that’s exactly how I feel too. It’s hard to get behind a message that feels like “lesbians are clearly all psychopaths”. I hope that’s not the intent. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

takarakei's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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

3.0

I wished this was more dark academia, which to me is a critique of academic institutions. I didn't really feel like this book critiqued boarding schools - it just talked about the dark history of this particular one. It's kinda hard to say a lot more about this book without spoilers because it's very mysterious. Definitely there's a lot of 'you don't know who to trust'. Sapphic. I think there was a lot of potential here, but it didn't quite hit it out of the park for me. I'm also not a thriller person so take that how you will, but I have read other YA thrillers that I liked more.

In the end there not being any magic was not where I wanted it to go. But I guess it's not fantasy tagged so maybe that was the giveaway? But 'witchcraft' is literally also used in the description, so...

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

zoeelora's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

libby_i_guess's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The atmosphere, the vibes, the aesthetic, those were all there. They were top notch, it was a perfect dark academia story. I also think if I liked mystery and all that more, I would be rating it higher. I can’t say I didn’t mostly call the twist, because I was guessing at it halfway through, but it was still well done. Of course, the unreliable narrator is a tool for this book, but I would have liked to have some answers at the end of it all as to what actually happened, as opposed to just maybe 3 lines saying it, but only after she was shown to be wrong or lie to herself time and again. The epilogue was meh, but the final line was solid, I’ll give it that.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

peachani's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-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

2.5

You should probably just read The Secret History instead...

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

allisonmenck's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Fine. It's a fairly engaging and enjoyable experience to listen to this. I didn't find it to spectacular, just a pretty solid YA novel. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jessjess125's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was phenomenal! Definitely was giving a queer style of A Secret History. I was guessing and second guessing everything the whole time.


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

audrey214's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-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

2.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings