Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

8 reviews

beucleral's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Slavery

mollieweitzman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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? Yes

3.5

I spent so much of this book confused hahaha 🫢 maybe it would’ve been a good audiobook. This would be GREAT for fans of Lore by Alexandra Bracken it really gives me so many of the same vibes but with a greater mystery element. There was just so many words, so much world building and history and so many twists that I don’t even know what happened. But at the same time some of the big reveals were guessable? I want to read the next book because this had a lot of heart and a lot of potential I simply just need it to be explained more throughly 😂 and in less words 

ALSO the toxic sister relationship hit wayyyy too close to home omfg

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War

Moderate: Blood

rightwhrleftme's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kell_xavi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

Exciting, original, fantastic debut novel set in a coastal fantasy city where human descendants of Greek deities—otherborn—can wield unique powers, but are marginalized in their society. The setting is a complex web of gang-ruled territory, a police initiative to use otherborn as soldiers, and suspicious deaths by women who are nor quite alive. 

Io is a winning character who half-willingly pairs up with Edei to investigate, and ends up in a good deal of trouble with a lot of buried things rising up to haunt her, her family, and the city of Elante. 

A few places closer to the beginning come across as contrived and confused,where Io doesn’t investigate things it seems she would want to, or where her anxiety didn’t move naturally, or in how she thinks and speaks. And it ends on a blasted cliffhanger! But otherwise, this is a wonderful book, and I look forward to the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty and Classism

paracosim's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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

5.0

This might be the best book I’ve read this year. I was obsessed from start to finish, completely drawn in by the amazing worldbuilding and setting, then by the characters and their relationships with each other. And what relationships there are. There is little to no romance in this book—though I’m expecting it in book two—and it gave all the other relationships time to shine in its absence. The history between the three sisters was especially intriguing. And the diversity of the cast! There are nonbinary characters, Jewish characters, a trans woman who plays a major part in the plot, lesbians and bisexuals, and much more. So much more. And none of it felt shoehorned in or awkwardly placed, the way it does sometimes—like the author was just trying to check down a list. It felt so natural and normal. This is a book I’ve been recommending to anyone who will listen, and one that will haunt me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Classism

Minor: Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and War

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Abortion, and Death of parent

allyourteetharebelongtous's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia

Minor: Genocide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Threads that Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou is a young adult fantasy with a touch of romance where a girl descended from the Fates must solve a murder that leads to secrets from the past - and a revelation that will change everything. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Io is a complicated character, with a determination to bring about justice even as fears and secrets from her past hold her back. Yes, the fate-thread tomance is a bit contrived, but I think Hatzopoulou handled it in a nuanced way. 

The worldbuilding was very interesting, with the flooded city of Alante and the clear class differences between different areas. I also loved that it isn't just Greek mythology - Hatzopoulou plays with the correlations between gods of different ancient religions. 

This book is about power and corruption, prejudice and justice, but most importantly about love and cycles of abuse. Io and her sisters have a complicated relationship, and it's central to how the book unfolds. I thought the whole concept of the threads and that they lead to things you love was interesting. 

Overall, I thought this book was great. It had a twisty mystery, interesting worldbuilding, and characters I cared about. I'm excited to read the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent