Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

26 reviews

robinks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

3.25

It was lovely to hear Kiyoko narrating her own novel. Having other voice actors and certain sounds within the audiobook was an interesting choice but also ended up taking me out of the story. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the scenes too.

I also haaaated Sonya’s character, which made Coley’s feelings for her hard to understand, and I’m annoyed that they end up together (though I do appreciate the nod to the Girls Like Girls music video).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

I thought this was really a sweet story about initial love and finding out who you are but I really disliked the characters in the story, particularly Sonya and Trenton. I don’t like the way that love is portrayed in some ways, particularly as something that always has elements of harm or hurt. That’s an unhealthy way to describe love, especially to the target audience of this novel which are upper middle/high school aged kids. I didn’t love the ending, because it felt like a cop out. The characters hadn’t changed all that much and they weren’t ready to make the choices they had made — it all felt too sped up. But, Coley and her dad building a relationship out of really negative circumstances was a beautiful plot line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Suicide, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

hologram_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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: Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

kittara's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

smellymiche's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

miloblue's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

2.75

Best Seller, Shmest Beller…. this book was….OK.

my main disappointment was that Coley ended up with Sonya, who didn’t really redeem herself AT ALL.

It’s a pretty big angst fest throughout, but I did appreciate how Coley kinda did some work and have some growth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

mcreasman's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-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? Yes

2.25

I’m so bummed by this book. It was pretty anticlimactic. I know this is Hayley’s first book, but it was so obvious while reading it. It was also read by Hayley and I just wish it was read by a pro because there was definitely a lack of emotion? Idk I know I couldn’t be a professional at this. I think a different narrator would’ve made it sound less cringey. I didn’t like the characters. The main girl, Coley, had just gone through a serious trauma and is also 17 so I’ll give her some slack, but the other characters were all just huge jerks. The main love interest, Sonya, is awful to Coley and yet Coley still idolizes her?? Also the main conflict at the end was incredibly problematic and was brushed over so quickly???? The whole story just really didn’t sit right with me…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

micaelacccc's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion

jennabeck13's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

2.0

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Genre: Romance

About 305 pages

Sonya is your typical popular teenage girl. She can get any guy she wants, is a beautiful dancer, and gets invited to all the parties. Meanwhile, Coley just moved to town after losing her mother and is trying to make friends, which is how the two of them meet one day. From that day forward, their lives will change. They have an attraction neither has ever experienced before. But Sonya is afraid to come to terms with her sexuality, and Coley is terrified of being left behind again. If they never discuss their feelings for one another, can they ever come together in the way they hoped?

I’ve been a fan of Becca Tilley since she was on The Bachelor, and since she has been dating Hayley, that’s how I came to know Hayley and therefore this book. This was a cute novel, but not my favorite. I feel like it was targeted more at the young adult demographic, as the characters felt very immature at times. I was not a fan of Sonya, but I did like Coley and wish we got to see her stand up for herself more often. I also wish we got to read more about how her relationship with her dad grew, as I really enjoyed the little bit of that that we got in this book.

Favorite Quote: “We can’t control what people do— how they betray us or even why. How they leave our lives. So many people are running scared. And sometimes they run back to us and earn back our trust. But the ones who don’t come back— or who don’t work to earn back what they lost from us— we have to learn how to let them go.”

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail