Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

8 reviews

stephanieluxton's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

This book was a bit of a roller coaster and it makes it so hard to rate. Let's start with what I liked. I went into this book pretty much blind. I didn't read the synopsis and all I knew is that it was about a virus and leans heavily into body horror.

I really enjoyed the first part of the book in which we see the horrors a new virus is inflicting on a normal person and how the world is responding to it. Super interesting concept! I also enjoyed the pacing of the story for the most part - it only dragged in certain areas. I liked the writing itself. I found myself fairly immersed in the first act and also somewhat in the final act.

But there was so much that I didn't like. The characters are all pretty irredeemable with exception to Mareva, maybe. Every single character is so far left wing, politically that I feel like even left wing readers would find them deplorable. I didn't write the book off because of this. Maybe the author wanted us to hate all the characters! Obviously I don't need to fully relate to the characters or after with their views to enjoy a book, but it got super preachy in the second act. White men = bad. Christians = bad. It wasn't subtle at all and was definitely pulling me out of the story. Erin isnt likeable but I could feel empathy for her. Savannah is the absolute worst scum of the earth. Part two was painful to read. Mareva was the best character but I feel like the book ends semi abruptly before we really got to see the consequences of her decisions. 

The other thing that pulled me out of the story was that there was a lot of time spent trying to explain the science of the virus but without really answering most of our bigger questions. The book ends just as it's starting to get interesting again.

Overall I think this book had all the potential but it almost was felt like it was trying to do so many things at once instead of just telling one story well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Torture, Cancer, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, Body horror, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Death of parent and Abortion

missymaus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Vomit, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and War

swashbuckling_mathematician's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.0

Basically every trigger warning.  It's a good story but...graphic...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Genocide, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, Abortion, Self harm, Body horror, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Slavery, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Gore, Sexism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, War, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

It's graphic. Very graphic. Really, if violent imagery gets in your head and bothers you, don't read this book.

l_will8889's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

Did I enjoy reading this book? Not really. Was I also too invested in the plot to DNF? Yes. Do with that information what you will. 
DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH! Like at all. Seriously. Check those content warnings and HEED THEM. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Cancer, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Colonisation, Car accident, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Infertility, Kidnapping, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Drug use, Dementia, Ableism, and Biphobia

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Just when I thought I’d figured out what was going on, I realized I was wrong, over and over until the end of this book. It was beyond fucked up. Creepy, terrifying, otherworldly, apocalyptic. I won’t forget about this one anytime soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

ismerene's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A delightfully, well-written horror story told through three viewpoints. The horror here is disgusting in a visceral way, and a few particular lines continue to stick with me long after I've turned the last page. Unfortunately, once the story veers into the cosmic horror side near the conclusion, it seems to lose it's touch and the horror becomes darkly comical and a bit of a drag. Though that last part marred my experience, overall this was a fun read. Check the warnings, this book is FULL of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical content, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Blood, Mental illness, and Murder

kneec's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Omg. The fever dream. Its gruesome. Its terraforming aliens. Its pandemic. Its vampires, zombies and somehow also banshee/ghouls? Its romantic in a very strang way. There's so much gross. The shock is still real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Child death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

loveflyfree's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

Well this was certainly a way to start off the new year!  Sister, Maiden,Monster by Lucy A. Snyder is not my normal kind of read but I am so glad that I gave it a chance. A dark, gory, and twisted glimpse into what happens when an even worse pandemic hits our world is not what one would usually think of for the holidays but I found it to be the perfect escape from the rush of this time of year. 

The writing is wonderfully evocative and with some of the most truly grotesque sequences I’ve ever read. But what made this all work were the characters. Erin is by turns heartbreaking and terrifying. Savannah is delightfully unhinged. And Mareva proves that strength resides in all of us. All three of the protagonists had me laughing, crying, cheering, and cowering in fear by turns. An absolute roller coaster ride of a story. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for providing the ARC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cancer, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Police brutality and Toxic relationship