Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

5 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

1.0

God, this book was such a waste of my time. I only finished it because I had to read it for school. It’s god awful. It was never entirely clear what was happening, to whom, or why. Most of the dialogue and narration just repeats and repeats, which serves to clarify literally nothing. The adults fail the children at every turn, which is hugely upsetting. And while no, books don't have to have happy endings, hopeful endings, virtuous characters, or good morals, so help me, I can’t tell what lesson(s) I’m supposed to take away from the torture the characters go through at every turn. My professor told us that this is one of Faulker's more “accessible” novels, and I have to wonder how his other works can possibly be less accessible than this novel. This novel is just word salad. I wish I hadn’t been assigned this book because it’s such a slog and with no pay-off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

gabriella_'s review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.0

I hated this. I skimmed the essays at the end - Doreen Fowler’s Matricide and the Mother’s Revenge: As I Lay Dying was interesting though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

bookish_bry's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Unfortunetly, my library only had the audiobook for this and I think it would be a lot easier to follow if I could read it. I liked that all of the narrators were clearly very biased and it read like poetry in many places. Unfortunetly, I found myself getting a bit lost with the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Racial slurs

tigeryear's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

naive of me to read this the same year my dad died! at least he was loved by many, unlike addie bundren. i'd almost excuse what her husband did to her (in life and as a corpse) if i didn't absolutely hate his guts, too. sorry poverty kicked you in the ass; could you NOT take it out on your children, you groveling bum?? (note: it's too much of an ask)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Abortion

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

b_caligari's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis