Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Ökyrikas tyttöystävä by Kevin Kwan

6 reviews

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

2.75

Personally I found all the prejudices easier to ignore in this one, so it was easier to actually enjoy the book.
However this book did not need to be that long, a lot of the book was name-dropping in relation to food, clothes, jewelry and cars. It felt unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Car accident, Classism, Racism, Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Stalking

cnjg88's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative slow-paced

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

3.0

The ending was really good. I feel like the plot twist was done well, and using news articles to give the aftermath was an interesting choice that I think fit well with the theme of the book. I really want a book focusing on Astrid. I loved Rachel and Nick's story in the first book, but Astrid's POVs were the main reason I kept reading through the first half of the book. With that in mind, Rachel was as classy as ever, and her argument with the final antagonist was excellent.

The format was also fun. Kwan rotates the conversation medium in addition to the POV in a way that I personally enjoy. It's like if the emails, texts, and news bits from 50 Shades was done well.

That said, there were some topics that I think could have been handled better. I'm not Jewish, so I don't know if the use of the term "Nazi" being used to describe loyal employees is okay when a character you are meant to loathe uses it. I am autistic though, so I do feel comfortable saying that I wish the conversation about r-slur babies had either gone differently or if other characters that we are supposed to like had one discussing eugenics and ableism. I think that the author's goal was to make them seem out of touch and shitty, similar to how he uses classism and racism, but I think it could have been executed better. The were also some casually ableist comments from the MCs about schizophrenia and OCD that felt weird.

All in all, 3 out of 5. It's overall a good book, political/social commentary is almost always my jam, the format was very unique in the best possible way. My main issues were pacing and some questionable handling of sensitive topics

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Classism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Ableism, and Misogyny

Minor: Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Drug use, Blood, Child abuse, Vomit, and Alcoholism

someone tries to scare Rachel by poisoning her and she almost dies. There's also quite a bit of cheating/false cheating accusations.

paigedent's review against another edition

lighthearted 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident and Miscarriage

abby_can_read's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

📱
I found this book as enjoyable as the first. The humor hit right, and I loved the different characters and their storylines. I do think this book did an excellent job of continuing some of the same storylines as the first book, but ultimately this book is its own story, which I loved. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Minor: Xenophobia

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, Medical trauma, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Domestic abuse

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Alcohol