Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

51 reviews

maddy_brown99's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

A cute little book! I enjoyed exploring the question of what happens when we break out of social norms and begin connecting with the people around us. How can we be more authentic to ourselves and the people around us? Sad in the way these inspiring books sometimes are: bad things have to happen for them to be triumphantly overcome! But overall a sweet good time.
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heini's review against another edition

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Joka päivä laiturilla 5 on viihdyttävä ja nopeasti luettava teos, jossa pilkistetään erilaisten ihmisten arkeen. Heitä yhdistävä tekijä on aluksi vain päivittäinen matka aamujunassa ja lopulta usko muihin ihmisiin, luottamukseen ja jakamiseen. Hahmot jäivät hiukan yksinkertaisiksi, mutta sellaisenaankin sopivat kirjan tarinaan ja olivat mielenkiintoisia.

Tätä kuvaillaan kannessa "Hyvän mielen tarinaksi", mutta alku oli rankkaa luettavaa. Jokaisen arjessa tapahtuvia kauheita, ikäviä, surullisia, julmia asioita tykitettiin lukijalle viiden eri kertojan näkökulmasta. 

Teinitytön alastonkuvien jakaminen ja kiusaaminen, kontrolloiva ja stalkkaava poikaystävä, päivittäin kuoleman ja kuoleman pelon keskellä työskenteleminen, rahahuolet ja tuntemansa elämäntavan ja parisuhteen romahtaminen, työpaikkakiusaaminen, työttömyys ja työuran päättyminen ikäsyrjintään, (väkivaltainenkin) rasismi ja homofobia, läheisen alzhaimer....
  Mutta kaikesta selvittiin. Hyvä mieli? Ei. Liikaa ja liian realistisia kamppailuja, jotka maagisesti ratkesivat loppua kohden. 

Selvisivätpähän kuitenkin ja yhdessä pystymme parempaan jne. mutta en lähtisi korostamaan sitä hyvän mielen tarinana. 
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ee1000's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An absolutely lovely hug of a novel about a group of people brought together by their morning commute and the relationships they build that change their lives. 

I loved this book! I giggled, I cried, and I absolutely flew through this book. The cast of characters was absolutely delightful. I loved how their stories wove together, how everyone worked together to build each other up and be the best versions of themselves. There’s truly not a bad POV in the book and I just adored how organically the relationships evolved. 

If you’re looking for a heartwarming book filled with triumph, this is for you! (Mind the content warnings though as some characters do go through some struggles!)

Later note: I bumped up this book’s rating from 4.75 to 5 stars because I can’t stop thinking about it!
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fancyjess_party's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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sandysmith's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It's a truly heartwarming read. Centred around eccentric Iona, a magazine agony aunt and her daily commute with her dog Lulu, a lesbian feminist in love with her wife Bea. An incident involving a grape and a passenger nearly choking brings together an unlikely very different bunch of people, Piers, a man who works in the city, Sanjay a male nurse who has panic attacks, Martha a school girl being bullied, Emmie a young woman working in PR with a perfect fiance, and David a property lawyer. Interweaving stories crafted wonderfully. Iona at the helm, comforting and counselling her unlikely friends through their various issue's. You invest and want the best outcones for them all. A really comfortable, easy reading, loveable, brilliant book.
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frannook's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Darling, what's the point of being alive if you go through life unnoticed, without standing out and making waves?
[...]
They want us to be small, so we have to stand tall.
They want us to be invisible, so we have to be seen.
They want us to be silent, so we have to be heard.
They want us to surrender, so we have to fight.

The only way to be guaranteed a failure is not to try.

I'd love to have a gay eccentric I-don't-care-what-anyone-says aunt like Iona, that's who I want/hope to be when I'm 50+ years old!
More thoughts to come soon...
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rad_reads_123's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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cheeseolive's review

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adventurous funny hopeful reflective fast-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? Yes

4.5

Delightful!! I couldn’t put this book down.
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nithyuh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book just spoke to me as an overthinker. Even though this book started slow, the ending was absolutely beautiful and was wrapped up so neatly. That completely made up for the slow start.

I’ve learned through this book that there is more than what there is to see. While the person next to you might seem like they have a perfect life, there maybe be some things going on in their life that isn’t all happy and perfect.

I can’t explain how happy this book makes me feel.
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chasingpages1's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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