Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson

10 reviews

blewballoon's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

This was cute and chaotic. I think fans of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna would enjoy this, and I actually preferred this one. It has the same concept of a hidden magical house with a quirky found family living there. I can't remember if we got the male love interest's POV in The Very Secret Society, but here we do have a dual POV where Essie is a witch who has grown up in the magic house and Josh is just a regular guy who doesn't know why he can't find this one property he supposedly owns. I did like both Essie and Josh; they were not perfect, but they were sincere, and I think the love story was paced well enough. As I said, the book is chaotic and characters kind of pop in and out to thrust the plot in different directions. A lot of the humor is the juxtaposition of crazy stuff happening and characters reacting nonchalantly. The narrator was alright, but her American accent slipped now and then and sometimes she spoke with a quiet mumble that made it hard to make out specific words.
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shiradfrankel's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? No

4.5

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imcalledzoe's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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amyteurhour's review against another edition

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2.0

Content warning: child neglect, abandonment, toxic relationships, emotional abuse, domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape, injury

The pacing of this was pretty slow, especially at the beginning. There was also kind of a fake ending somewhere in the middle, and I thought that the book was over, but it wasn't. I didn't really like Essie, and was pretty horrified at how she treated/talked about her exes, especially considering the circumstances of the relationships ending
although the guy who got frostbite on his dick was kind of a jerk spreading rumors but also wild and hilarious that there would be two books where people talk about how they got frostbite on their dick published within basically three months of each other lol
. This was a bit of a disappointment/frustrating read and I can't see myself checking out any more Johnson in the future. 
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a_disaster_'s review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious 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? No

3.0

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kiala's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-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? No

4.0

Interesting house.
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lily_peach's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

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elynt2022's review

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

3.0

Pace is a little uneven. It’s a slow start, but if you can make it through the first third of the book it picks up. 
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erinrachelreads's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

 This was… a lot, but I didn’t hate it? 
Hex Appeal follows Essie, who lives in the village of Goodwinter with her coven, and Josh who has just moved to the village and it turns out he is her landlord. 
There was a lot I felt was quite well done; e.g. the topic of consent, character building and I did enjoy the relationship between Essie and Josh. The book felt quaint and English while being progressive in some of its themes, I just don’t know if there was maybe too much going on that it overwhelms the story. There were a few times when I had to either put the book down and think about what was going on or go back a few pages and reread to see if I’d missed something as everything is happening so quickly. I think if this was edited well it could be really good but I also wouldn’t discourage people from giving it a go as I did find myself unable to stop reading it towards the end. 
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juffnstuff's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

3.75

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