Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by

46 reviews

readsforlove's review against another edition

4.5

My first question is why are more people not talking about this amazing book? I found it on Audible recs of all places after searching for a similar book to A Taste of Gold and Iron and was quickly swept away. Velasin and Caethari are ... wow. Like. This book is the arranged marriage trope, and while being an asexual makes this concept feel truly straight from a horror novel, the tenderness with which it happened in this book was just so so good. I'm having trouble finding words. They were each so tender and sweet and kind to each other, and there was no unnecessary drama, which I'd honestly been expecting. While things were by no means easy between them, they each went into the situation with grace, care, and honesty, despite there being ample opportunity to create drama. But they were both so refreshingly mature and sweet about everything, it makes me want to dive right back in for a reread from cover to cover. 

Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through. 

Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit

xandry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

seashel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A wonderful husbands-to-friends-to-lovers 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Sexism, Medical content, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Abandonment, and Classism

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

kathyq10's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

Overall I enjoyed this read a lot. The relationship between Cae and Vel is so sweet and lovely. The development is well written and a delicious slow burn, so much so that when they first HUG it feels huge and incredibly intimate. In turn their first kiss and first other things are a culmination of all that steamy and emotional buildup, plus healthy communication!! Gasp! The worldbuilding is well done in terms of the creative gender and sexuality norms—super refreshing in fantasy novels that are usually very binary—but I found the magic system a bit boring, underdeveloped, and underutilized. I thought this book was going to be a fantasy, but the magic feels like an afterthought and only really comes up as a plot point (rather conveniently) towards the end. The more fantastical element is really the progressive society, and I would’ve been just as happy without the magic at all. 
As for negatives, the pace was slooooow. The bulk of the book takes place over like a week and a LOT happens each day. The characters acknowledge the density of the action, though, which makes it a bit better I guess. I just wanted it to move along at a faster clip. But then the solving of the mystery, reveal of the big baddie, and the consequences to them all happen pretty quickly and didn’t resolve in a satisfying way to me. I don’t think it did justice to the complexities of that character’s motivations. I cared much more about the main romantic relationship, Cae’s and Vel’s relationships with their respective close friends, and character development overall than the plot or the intrigue, so I honestly skipped some of the parts where they were bouncing around the town trying to solve the mystery of it all. 
MAJOR CW for sexual violence and attempted suicide right from the very beginning of the book. The author puts this in a CW at the start but I didn’t expect it all to happen quite so fast. As the author says, though, it is a story about healing from the initial trauma. 
Finally shoutout to MARKEL, Vel’s bestie and the absolute best supporting character. Markel is an icon and a messy bitch and I hope we get more of him in the sequel. His friendship with Vel was the second best part of the book; I love to see an unselfconscious portrayal of male friendship and intimacy. Plus the integration of the fact that he speaks sign language felt very natural and something I’ve never seen in a fantasy novel like this before. 
Thank you Foz!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

bespectacled_lemur's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ktame001's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Vomit and Classism

bea_reads_books's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

AAAAAAAAAAAAH 😩 I can’t remember the last time I loved a book this much!  I will say that I was very intimidated by this book because the audiobook is NINETEEN HOURS long. I prefer to stick with 6-7 hours, and can handle 10-12 at the most if I really think it’s worth it. I was honestly expecting this to be a DNF because of sheer length, but boy am I glad I tried it anyway. It really didn’t feel nearly as long as it was; every chapter actually had a point, every scene moved the story along. I never once felt like the plot was dragging or was needlessly prolonged (like I so often do with longer books, especially in fantasy). And, surprisingly for me, I actually loved the romance and how that storyline was handled. I often get impatient/frustrated with romance because it feels either way too rushed or stretched out for no reason, and this was neither. God this book was incredible. Well done, Foz Meadows. You have a new super fan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

maeveshelby's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia and Misogyny

smolhandsdan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment