Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

La amiga estupenda by Elena Ferrante

20 reviews

raybudbury's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m intrigued so I will continue onto book #2 but this book made me really be like “wow these men suck and should all do time in prison/go to therapy/die etc”  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Classism

tourmalinequeen's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

I read this for my book club. I did not expect to enjoy it. but here we are with a four star rating and partway through the sequel. It begins very slowly. The entire plot is the setting and characters, which is a departure from books I'd usually gravitate towards. 

The setting is vividly drawn, post-WW2 Naples, in an area full of poverty. The narrator is first-person pov and the other main character is the titular "brilliant friend" who is the sort of friend who is only a friend when it suits. And the characters are flawed; they argue, are prideful and petty and childish (they are children for most of the book to be fair), and utterly compelling. If one has something the other doesn't there is both support and jealousy, which is so human and real to me.

The pace is glacial, and it took me a good quarter-to-third of the book to get into it, but once I was hooked I was hooked. It got to a point where I would start the audiobook just to ensure I got through the slog, but after so many chapters I realised I was looking forward to finding out what happened next. It sneaked up on me, and I am so glad it did.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

guavasoup's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It felt very realistic and maybe therefor a bit underwhelming with all the hype around it. Read it if you want atmospherical poor napolitan neighborhood vibes, girlhood and the life of people that usually get glossed over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

nikkimccooltaylor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

miller8d'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book is brilliant in a way that makes me say “This is the story of a real life,” not “omg I love this book.” Like, I don’t really feel like I read a fictional story. (I actually have no clue if it’s autobiographical or not but I won’t google it because I don’t want to spoil it). Perhaps for that reason, this book took me an incredible long time to read. Like, months on end of picking it up and loving it, but being unable to pick it up again because it was so difficult to read. I don’t even think it was actually difficult literature for me, but instead so emotionally dense and detail-heavy that I couldn’t pay anything but 100% attention while reading, otherwise I’d have to go back dozens of pages to figure out why I was confused. Also,

this is perhaps the only book or story I’ve ever known which accurately depicts how tumultuous and confusing and painful it can be to survive childhood and grow up. I absolutely loved her depiction of how the child’s mind can equally spin fantasy and horrific terror on the same coin— not simple boogieman stuff, but much scarier, finding awful and disturbing fears in/around the mundane figures of your social world and daily life, even when there’s nothing truly wrong there.

Beautiful book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

flovntic's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Classism

risemini's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

theabee's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Murder

eazurch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I really liked this book, stayed up multiple evenings to finish it even. I like following Lila and Elena’s friendship over so many years and reading about all the interpersonal dynamics (while having the character list to refer back to).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail