Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

True Crime Story by Joseph Knox

8 reviews

lesemaresi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

Loved it. Loved the concept of the book and how it was written/ how the author incorporated himself into the book. Felt like a true crime documentary. I was an Easy and fast read. I couldn’t stop ready because there were So many turns of event but that also made it  a bit exhausting/confusing and hard to keep up with everything.

Unsure about the conclusion/ending… and how reliable the author really is

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Abandonment, and Violence

fairylightreads's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

As someone whose halls flat walls were made of one long crawlspace I'm very glad I didn't read it until 6 years after I moved out of halls

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

sarahmae531's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I couldn’t put this book down! Between conflicting recounts and juicy teenage drama, I kept coming back for more.
The ending was set up perfectly. I was so sure I knew what was going to happen because it all seemed so obvious, but then I was proven SO wrong. The true ending was also well explained and you weren’t left wondering “how does that all add up??”
The book also did an amazing job of not breaking the fourth wall. Editor, publisher, and author notes included in the book are all fiction. There is a character in the book that’s shares the name and title of a debut novel as the author. Emails, photos, and even a Facebook post are included. It was very impressive. 

I will say, check content warnings before reading, this has almost every traumatizing thing you can think of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Death, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Kidnapping, Murder, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, Cancer, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

milliep's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! I think some parts werent necessarily believable, but I enjoyed the novelty of its format and the twists and turns. Great idea and well executed - did find it strange that there was no disclaimer saying the story wasnt actually true though haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

amichreads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

novabooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

amym84's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

In 2011, Zoe Nolan disappeared from her dormitory in Manchester. The case went cold, and now years later author Evelyn Mitchell has decided to pick up the story, trying to shed some new light on Zoe by interviewing friends, family, police. After hitting a seemingly dead end, Evelyn decides to send her progress to fellow author Joseph Knox in hopes that he'll be able to give some good angles on where she can go next with the story. 

But as Joseph immerses himself within Zoe's story, the lines between fact and fiction begin to blur. 

I really enjoyed the idea of breaking the fourth wall so to speak. Joseph Knox blurs the lines between truth and fiction and brings the reader along for the ride. It's really clever and drives the story forward. I think it's a perfect commentary on our near-obsession with true crime with the number of docuseries and podcasts around, almost anyone can reach the status of armchair detective. Joseph Knox plays upon this excellently. 

I really like the oral history format of the story. It really enhances the idea of the supposed reality of the story. I've read other books that have utilized this technique and it's one that makes me want to listen to the audiobook as I feel like that's the closest way to really convey the idea of someone being interviewed. 

The story itself unfolds at a languid pace. I liked how with all the different characters putting in their own version of events you don't know what, or who, to trust. Everyone has secrets and reasons for keeping or telling those secrets. It's just interesting to see the narrative changes as the various twists and turns are revealed. I think my only complaint is, at a certain point, I did feel like there were certain points where I felt like the information was being recycled over and over again without any forward momentum, but once we'd hit on a piece of information it would almost be like looking at the story again with a fresh set of eyes. 

Without giving anything away, I also feel like Joseph Knox gives a satisfying ending. He clearly knows in True Crime Stories of any kind it's the resolution that people want to see, the answers. I don't think this one disappoints. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping