Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham

13 reviews

amanda_reads89's review

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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Drug use, Rape, and Sexual assault

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

The book's first half was paced too slowly, while I enjoyed the second half as secrets were revealed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Grief, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Physical abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gore, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy

juanat77's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Animal death, Cursing, Vomit, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child death, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Grief

katyannreads's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Murder, and Stalking

Moderate: Vomit and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

chloecam'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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexual assault

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident

amandabales's review

mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

College settings in books somehow simultaneously bring me comfort and anxiety. I can only read so much of them. It felt like this one dragged on a bit too long - too many Eliza flashbacks. Switching between the before and after affected the pacing. I also didn’t really like any of the characters. So many toxic individuals obsessed with drinking, partying, and each other…

With that being said, I didn’t see the twists coming. It was a quick read and there were some enjoyable moments. I could vividly picture what was happening in the story. I’m still a Stacy Willingham fan, but I recommend her other books over this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Grief, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, and Animal death

starrfishandcoffee's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

erincaitlin97's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Definitely a slow build that kept me guessing the whole time. The way that everything tied together at the end was absolutely insane and unexpected. I loved watching the way these friendships were built, and the blind loyalty they all had for one another. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

amandaglowgetter's review

mysterious tense medium-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

Only If You’re Lucky is fundamentally a thriller about friendship between young women, and how far we’ll go for our friends. I really connected with the main character, Margo, and I think that a lot of people will too. That feeling of not quite belonging, of being on the outside, looking in, of being in a friendship where the affection feels asymmetrical… Margo gets wrapped up in the lives of her charismatic besties to the point where she wants to be more like them and less like herself, and I think that that expresses our desire for belonging when taken to the extreme. 

The book starts a bit slow, but I guess that’s to be expected when you have to build background story for characters. It quickly picks up and the mystery and how all the pieces connect kept me reading. Willingham is queen of the twisty thriller, and this delivers exactly that.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advance review copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault