Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

64 reviews

moyarb's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

I did love the setting and how isolated it felt. It set the mood and the last 20 chapters or so were enjoyable. Unfortunately, this was too slow for me (It's 60 chapters plus an epilogue!), but I think if I didn't go in expecting a whodunnit and seeing the reviews on the back cover comparing it to Agatha Christie, I probably would've enjoyed it more. This wasn't a murder mystery, but more like a domestic drama with some suspense sprinkled at the end. The characters were either very unlikable or boring, and the ending wasn't satisfying. Of the trope about a group of longtime friends who secretly hate each other, this was the weakest. 

Earlier this year, I read The Paris Apartment which is Lucy Foley's most recent work and the first book of hers I read.  I loved The Paris Apartment, but having read The Hunting Party and the preview of The Guest List, Foley's mysteries are pretty much the same format: Multiple POVs set back and forth in time during the present and the time leading up to the present and I suppose it all depends on execution because I think The Paris Apartment was more engaging and had a good blend of the drama and the mystery. At least it showed that Foley improved on her formula. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Infidelity, Animal death, Death, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Drug use, Alcohol, Ableism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Blood, Cursing, and Outing

rmperash's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Infidelity, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Gore, Medical content, Pregnancy, Violence, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, and Infertility

Moderate: War

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Body shaming

radhikag's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

This was really well done. I did not see the twist coming though I probably should have.. couldn’t put this down towards the end and already want to read more! This was different from the Guest List and the Paris Apartment in how closely entangled everyone was before the fateful trip / event but I appreciated the same style of switching timelines and POVs.. all together makes for a v interesting story! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Animal death

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Death

Minor: War, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Stalking, and Sexual assault

texashippie's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Death, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Murder, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Animal death, Classism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

whirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Outing, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Bullying

Minor: Infertility, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Pregnancy, War, and Fire/Fire injury

undertherowantree's review

dark mysterious fast-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

3.75

I feel like there were too many characters, so you didn't develop enough attachment to them and many of them didn't really have a role in the plot. I also felt like the back and forward between the end and beginning gave too much away too early and affected the pacing. It didn't really build-up in the same way other thrillers do and the ending felt rushed and by that point, predictable, as it had been hinted at since page 1. I loved the setting and found the writing addictive though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Outing, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Self harm

Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, and Abandonment

kimveach's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It's a good thriller - especially on audio.  The different British accents brought life to these characters that I would have missed reading in print.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, Cursing, Drug use, Alcohol, Classism, Infertility, Mental illness, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

kateea7536's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.25

The book was very very slow to get going, I felt like it could have been very much shorter. Again, some great descriptions from this author but this time there was just too many characters and not enough happening. I wasn’t drawn to liking or rooting for any of them and just felt everything was quite surface level - I wasn’t at all invested in the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Violence, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Death, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Physical abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, War, and Emotional abuse

lovelymisanthrope's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

This book has been on my radar for a few years now because of how much I enjoyed "The Guest List".
"The Hunting Party" is a multiple POV whodunit story. A group of friends decide to spend New Years celebrating together at a remote resort in the mountains. When they arrive, they find out they are not alone, and there is one other couple there as well. With tensions running high, someone ends up dead, and someone killed them, but who did it, and why?
I realize this book is called "The Hunting Party" but I was not expecting there to be so much language about hunting and killing animals. Had I known that, I would have been less likely to pick up this story.
As with Lucy Foley's other novels, this story has A LOT of POVs, and the timeline jumps around quite a bit, so you do need to pay attention to the story in order to completely follow every storyline. Unfortunately, for me, I did not like these characters, and I was not really interested in who killed who.
I do think a book like this takes a lot of skill to write, so I appreciate what Lucy Foley has accomplished, but I think "The Guest List" and "The Paris Apartment" were both executed better than this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual content

writer_egreene's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Gore, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Self harm