Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf

15 reviews

notapenguin's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug abuse

hue's review against another edition

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

2.5

I've never been a fan of mysteries that have a social media twist to them. It just sort of makes it meh for me. It also read a bit "too YA" at times to such degree I wanted to roll my eyes. It was slightly overwritten, and I didn't find the characters interesting enough to follow along. 

But really it isn't a bad book by any means. It's just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Toxic friendship

kh_xion's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

olive_lol's review

emotional mysterious medium-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

3.5

A weekend Scrabble tournament is a unique yet effective setting for a mystery novel. The main thing that stood out to me with this book was the way Scrabble was intertwined with every aspect of it, even the narration.

I thought Najwa was an interesting character and detective in the way she interacts with both her past and her grief. However, I wish we had gotten to know the other characters better before the mystery really kicked off, which would have helped me get more invested. Most characters have another side that slowly (or quickly, for some) gets revealed over the course of the story.

As for the ending,

I found it surprisingly satisfying for a muder mystery with no real killer. I liked that the idea of Trina’s death being an accident was presented as a real option from the beginning and not swept to the side for the sake of shocking the reader.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Scrabble, explorations of grief, and mysteries with unique settings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Cursing, and Self harm

aformeracceleratedreader's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Another great book by Hanna Alkaf! I didn't love it as much as "the girl and the ghost" by the same author but still a solid read. I never would've thought I would enjoy a book about Scrabble but here we are! 
Loved the diversity of characters and how it does represent Malaysia/ Singapore/Indonesia region super well. 
It shows grief, how vulnerable/dependant people can be, and how one person can really affect a lot of people's lives both in life and in death. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

kuri's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Grief, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Drug abuse

mandkips's review

mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, and Infidelity

abigail_reads06's review

hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

Nice mystery, didn’t know what was going to happen next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

dalmavatai's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.0

I really liked the Scrabble competition and the amateur-sleuth vibes in this one but sadly the rest was just way too much predictable YA drama and the reveals at the end were incredibly underwhelming. A short read though so if you like Scrabble and don't mind YA drama, maybe give this one a go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship

shadereads's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship