Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Confessions by Kanae Minato

12 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

One of the wildest rides I’ve ever been on. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the author throws another curveball. I was floored for about 95% of this book. The writing style takes a bit to get used to at first, but once you get into it, it’s not as jarring. At the outset of reading this, my main takeaway is who really was the “bad guy” in this story. I’m not sure, are you?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

glgremlin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

This book is the definition of "an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind." 

Absolutely incredible revenge story that hooks you at the very start.

It's taught me perception vs perspective are to different things to always take into account of someone.

Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

beightmana's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Confinement, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

atalea's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Transphobia, Mass/school shootings, and Pregnancy

eabh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I knew from reading the back of this book’s that it’s genre and plot was not my cup of tea. However, it was a pick for a book club read. And for the first half of the book, I was intrigued and mildly engaged. But when shit hit the fan in the second half, I was left feeling disturbed, frustrated, and disappointed.

This book was much more distressing than I anticipated. Through the shifting perspectives of Confessions, you learn more about the experiences that happen that shape the character’s beliefs and decision making. I found there to be so much senseless violence and cognitive over analysis that I was both unsettled and uninvested in this book. 

Besides that, this novel felt very far fetched and unlikely to happen IRL, so it was challenging for me to suspend reality and stay invested through this book. 

A few things I did enjoy: the multiple narrator style was well written and the dynamics between the characters was interesting to see unravel in the story. 

Overall, this book was slow, repetitive, and twisted to me. 2 stars feels generous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Miscarriage and Toxic relationship

Minor: Miscarriage

callidoralblack's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

hayley2u's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I should start off by saying this is there second Japanese translation I've read and I didn't like either one. I think it's a personal preference thing. I don't seem to click with the writing style. 

I really wanted to like this. I've heard amazing things about the plot and twists the story takes. Don't get me wrong this book is a rollercoaster, but I wasn't invested. If you need to relate to characters to be invested (like I do) this is not a book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting

julienicole1106's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

middleagedbookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Whoa. What a ride. Such a unique, disturbing, well-written novel. The author did an amazing job conveying what goes on in the mind of a seriously depraved individual. 

The only reason I did not give this five stars may have been for the wrong reasons… some of the material honestly disturbed me and made me sick to my stomach. I had to put the book down a few times and watch something funny on TV, and try to find something to distract me or give me hope in mankind 🤣 I will take slasher horror films (or books) any day over something psychologically disturbing… the human mind scares me more than anything!! 

If you like psychologically disturbing books, you will love this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death