Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Dreadnought by April Daniels

11 reviews

lyncolonbracket's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.75

i kinda hate superhero action scenes but the ones that are just people talking are amazingly well done and made me love this book so much more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

teyn's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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? No

3.75

I would've loved this if not for the gendered fatphobia and ableism that added absolutely nothing to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic friendship and Sexual harassment

gameoftomes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Amazing. The book really gives a payoff for its superhero genre, transgender representation, and first person POV. It uses all of these well, and towards a conclusion with physical and emotional stakes involved. 

There are good action sequences, a bit of gore, and a good bit of body horror. But none of it overwhelms the novel. The supers don’t feel regurgitated and cliché. It feels like it could fit in with comic book superheroes, yet isn’t weighed down with tropes. The world of superheroes and hypertech is fleshed out without being exposition heavy. 

Warning that there is a significant amount of transphobia, including slurs, deadnaming, emotional abuse, and parents kicking out their 15 year old kid. But none of this stops main character Danielle from being super, from being flawed, from being a beacon of hope. Individuals are not a monolith, and I think at the author is transgender herself helps. 

This is a first person perspective YA novel that feels like you’re in the head of a real teenager. Danny clearly had reactions with a lot of self-hate because of how actively awful her dad is and how passively awful her mom is. So negative self-talk happens in stressful situations. Her journey as a superhero starts out as finally getting her body to match her gender identity, then fighting crime becomes an escape from reality, and finally starts to become a community, a newfound family. 

I honestly came in thinking I would be lightly enjoyable fun, but I’m really blown away with the characters, world-building, and balance of emotional, fun, and tense moments. I might have to break my book buying ban to grab the sequel. 

9/10 objectively a good time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

phantastic's review against another edition

I didn’t like how one-dimensional some of the antagonistic characters were. Also, it felt like the book was misandristic in its effort to support trans women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Cursing, Deadnaming, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infertility, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, and Vomit

nowjamie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

brassmonkey's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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? No

1.25

Not good. Also kind of insane that a book that looks and reads like it was written for middle schoolers says tranny so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Transphobia, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

oneeyedjess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Toxic friendship

overbooked207's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

📖 Dreadnought & Sovereign by April Daniels Book Review 📖

3rd and 4th books of August 2022 and 20th and 21st of the year:

“I see a world that is terrified of me. Terrified of someone who would reject manhood. Terrified of a girl who knows who she is and what she's capable of. They are small, and they are weak, and they will not hurt me ever again.” - April Daniels.

These books have fantastic trans, lesbian, queer, abuse survivor, mental health/illness, anxiety, PTSD, and more representation, great writing and world-building, and inventive, well-written, and brutal action/fight scenes! If there’s anything I love in books, it’s complex characters, and this series' main character, Danny, is an especially amazing and complex character. The book showcases her bravery, power, resilience, anger, strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between in such a good way, and the characters felt so real. I liked the second book even more than the first, and I definitely recommend picking these up, especially if you love superhero movies or shows like The Boys, Invincible, Umbrella Academy, etc.! 

TWs for Dreadnought: transphobia, slurs, homophobia, deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, medical content, violence, parental/domestic/child abuse, homelessness/being kicked out of the house for being trans/queer, anxiety, death, dysphoria, cursing, bullying, blood, body horror, alcohol, alcoholism, self-image issues/negative internal voice, PTSD, sexual harassment, toxic friendship, and description of injuries.

TWs for Sovereign: transphobia, slurs, homophobia, alcoholism, self-harm, deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, misandry, medical content/trauma, violence, vomit, abuse, cursing, bullying, blood, body horror, alcohol, alcoholism, homelessness, ableism, kidnapping, torture, imprisonment, anxiety, self-image issues/negative internal voice, PTSD, mass death, and description of injuries📚🎧🦸‍♀️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

wynterwonderland's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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: Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment