Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

31 reviews

kittkat's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gutes, spannendes Buch. Es hat mich jetzt nicht so weggehauen wie der erste Teil, aber dafür fand ich die 1980er-Sommer-auf-einer-privaten-Insel-Vibes suuuper cool und spaßig 🏖️🍦⛵️🥐🧊🍓
Ich habe mich jetzt nicht mehr wirklich an den exakten Plot im ersten Buch erinnert, aber eigentlich konnte man diese Story auch so einwandfrei verstehen. 

Dadurch dass es ein Jugendbuch ist, war die Sprache relativ simpel und man kommt echt schnell durch das Buch. Ich glaube aber auch, dass mir genau deswegen, irgendwas gefehlt hat… aber I can‘t quite put my finger on it 🤔. Das Ende fand ich ziemlich hervorsehbar, weil man diese dunkle Wendung der Geschichte schon aus dem ersten Buch kennt, aber ich fand, dass das Leseerlebnis dadurch nicht gemindert wird :).

Also insgesamt, ein gutes Buch und perfekt für so stressige Tage vor den Klausuren, wenn man nichts Kompliziertes/ Langes lesen kann.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Child death, Addiction, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, and Rape

tourmaline1703's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

We Were Liars is one of my favourite books of all time, so I was very excited to revisit this world in its prequel. Safe to say, I wasn't disappointed. I will say that the shock factor is less than We Were Liars so don't expect such a big twist but there are still twists and turns along the way. They're not necessarily predictable just shock you in a different way.

I love the summery setting of this novel, it's really made the nice weather today feel like the start of summer. Usually summery novels have this sense of perfection and happiness, but this novel uses the summery setting to create a false sense of security which I love!

It's unconventional but I love the way the novel is written and structured. The use of fairytales to reflect the protagonist's story is really interesting and of course, the whole premise is based on the fact she is an unreliable narrator, which is what adds to the twists. At times, some things felt like they were typos which did throw me off a bit but they could be part of the dialect.

I felt the plot was well paced and I liked the twists and turns. The mystery and romance blend creates a great set up for the storyline. The characters were interesting and I wanted to know their motives, their relationships and what happened next. None of these characters are particularly good people but they're interesting and flawed, making it a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infidelity, Child death, and Homophobia

viselik's review against another edition

3.0

I much preferred We Were Liars but this one was alright I guess. All of the like bits I loved in We Were Liars was not in this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, Murder, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Grief, and Drug use

nagaakil's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Child death, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Transphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, and Infidelity

books_hay's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

_eleanorgreen8_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book - much more than We Were Liars. It was a good holiday read and incredibly absorbing, but also pretty dark and troubling. E Lockhart's writing so skilfully conjures emotions and a sense of place, and the use of description and listing is so satisfying. I felt totally involved in the narrator's world, as her thoughts and emotions were constantly being expressed and explained. The one thing I liked less about the book was the plot twist at the end - I felt it didn't make sense and wasn't really necessary, though i guess it did add another layer to the story. Overall, this book was gripping and thought provoking and I definitely would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Grief

stitchbooks22's review against another edition

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

2.0

This was garbage, but still not the worst thing I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Body horror, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Antisemitism, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, Classism, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

kccool12255's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Though I was a bit apprehensive about Carrie being the star of our story, I believe that this prequel absolutely lives up to the original novel. Cadence has a very unique voice, easy to follow along with, and Carrie’s has much of that same tone. I enjoyed the boys in the story

(except for Pfeff, of course)

. I love the plot, and didn’t expect any of the plot twists that came. I DO think that Bess could’ve been included more,

and the whole Pfeff-Penny-r*pe storyline made me uncomfortable . And sorry, but I don’t think that Penny’s bi (if she stuffed it down, fine, but I just don’t think it fits up with her character, sorry)

. Ending could’ve been better. Overall though, an amazing experience. 

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the first book, and murder mysteries.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Child death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Biphobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Vomit

corabookworm's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I think I actually enjoyed this book a little more than the first, at times. The random bits of poetry were a bit distracting and unnecessary (the writing was prose-like enough already), but E. Lockhart is an amazing author who wrote this mysterious, drama-infused, family-focused story in a gorgeous way. I loved how this book talked about family, and some of the moments between them all (especially towards the end) were absolutely adorable. Highly recommend if you enjoyed the first one or any books like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Body shaming and Murder

Minor: Child death, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Rape, Homophobia, and Self harm