Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The List

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

velvet_young's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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janefinch's review

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challenging emotional 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

3.0

I didn't enjoy this book. It was a horrible topic and the main characters coped with it so badly I found it hard to finish. I read it for a book club, otherwise wouldn't have continued past the first chapter.

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ropey's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective

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

Couples Ola and Michael are embroiled in a scandal involving a “list” of perpetrators that draws much of its inspiration from the MeToo movement. It shows the consequences of trial-by-public with social media, cancel-culture, and how little regard many of us have for online credibility. While I liked how the author included different perspectives in this book, it also felt strangely mechanical.

The final chapter made the story somewhat uncharacteristically removed. It’s as though it spent so much of the first chapters building up this believable set of characters only to turn them cartoonish at the end (I wouldn’t fault the author for this as they did mention that they’d considered writing nonfiction first)

This is the kind of book I’m not certain I could rate. It raises important topics that are normally scoffed at and shrugged off, but I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, nor would I read it again.

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aunticles's review

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dark reflective 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

3.75

This was a definite page-turner and very thought-provoking. Very skilfully written. Making the chapter headings a countdown to the wedding really helped keep the stakes high. I could feel Ola's sense of being on a runaway train she couldn't stop. Clever switching between the 2 main characters' pov, managing to keep both voices strong. Excellent dialogue and depiction of online discourse. Michael was far more sympathetic than I'd expected. I wanted to feel he was the villain but it was more nuanced than that. An uncomfortable read that puts the reader firmly in a moral grey area and dares them to judge. I can see lots of book club arguments coming out of this!

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