Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

44 reviews

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

rivers solomon has such an incredible and heartbreaking and magical way with words. i’m gonna think about this book forever. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Racism, Slavery, Transphobia, and Violence

hannah_a_r_teatalksbooks's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.5

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book; conceptually, it was fascinating. However, sometimes mysteries were picked up and set down again for reasons that escaped me. One example is the place where Lune's notes were stored, which seemed like it could have been much more developed. The resolution of the mystery of Lune's disappearance was anticlimactic,

and I was also very confused about the insistence the book had that she slit her throat, when there was no body and we never find out what happened

. Mostly, I was just unprepared for the incessant sexual violence in the book. There is so much sexual violence. It made the book hard to read, and not in the "this is hard but good/important for me" way, but in the "yes, we get it already, women of the Lowerdecks are raped incessantly, yes, I understand the problems inherent in this society and how it represents our own past and present, we've now passed the point where it develops theme, character, and plot and is just beating me up" sort of way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Child death, Confinement, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Sexual assault

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

This book is incredible, thought-provoking, and devastating. There's a mix of terrifying worldbuilding, fascinating characters, mysterious plot, and deep emotional resonance. Make SURE to read the content warnings, though - it's a very heavy book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Rape, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Ableism, Violence, and Gun violence

riverrliam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.25

This book is heavy on science terms, so be prepared to look things up! Some of the plot was confusing to me, but overall it was entertaining and a quick read. I liked all the queer representation. I love a dystopian story / escape for a better world and the setting was unique. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Body shaming, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Classism, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Bullying, Confinement, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

twistmalchik's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Child death, Rape, Violence, Transphobia, Ableism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

honeynutmalcontent's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Police brutality, Racism, Death, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Colonisation, Homophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Classism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape, Mental illness, Abandonment, Transphobia, Blood, and Dysphoria

wonderingintothevoid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• 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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Slavery, Racial slurs, Racism, Ableism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Biphobia, Death, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship

principite's review

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Really good read, kept me up reading cause the flow is great between chapters. Without spoilers I'd describe it as a sci-fi exploration of slavery and antiBlackness. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Rape, Misogyny, and Racism

Chapter 2 has graphic description of rape

kellyofcali's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

Very much a modern sci-fi for me, I liked the world the author created and the way they wove in themes of classism and racism while still pursuing a vibrant sci-fi story with a more diverse and varied cast of characters. My main issue was the ending - it felt like someone told them to "wrap it up" and so the ending felt unhurried and less gripping than the earlier parts of the book. However, definitely worth a read and made for an interesting book club discussion (people were very split) - especially for sci-fi lovers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Abortion, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Misogyny, Slavery, Chronic illness, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy and Racism

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is one of those books that I close after finishing and stare off into the middle distance for a solid ten minutes, just… processing.

I feel like I should have a bunch of really thoughtful reactions to this story, since there’s obviously so much going on thematically, but more than anything I just feel like my brain is stuck on the buffering screen, lol.

I loved the premise—an enormous space vessel acting as a sort of Noah’s ark, harboring a human population fleeing earth in search of the proverbial promised land. I appreciated the autistic, intersex, trans/non-binary, and asexual representation, as well as the allegorical interpretation of the antebellum south.

I struggled a little bit with some of the dense “science-y” terminology and just ended up skimming a lot of it, assuming I’d be able to get the gist. I had a similar issue when I tried to visualize some of the things described (in particular, the fields where lowerdeck workers harvest crops). The only other thing that threw me off sometimes was the quick jumps around through time, and not being able to sure when a “flashback” is being described and at what point have we jumped to the present again.

Other than that I really enjoyed this book, especially the second half. It’s beautifully-written, and the characters are nuanced and richly crafted.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Abortion, and Gun violence