Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Paper Towns by John Green

14 reviews

hk98's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I thought I would give this book a try and at first it was interesting to understand the relationship between Margo and Quentin. However, as the story got on, the plot line died a little - it got slow.

Until the third section of the book where Q takes a road trip with his friends.

The ending was a bit of a letdown, I expected more of a meaningful relationship that formed between Margo and Q, but it mainly focused on their past lives and made up stories from 10-year old Margo. 

The characters were easy to understand and from it you can see why each and every one of them got on with one another or why did they not. However, the character of Ben can be quite grotesque with the vast amount of sexual and genitalia comments which can make for a difficult read at times, but I see where the author is coming from.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

bearystarry's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The ending is beautiful, I love the sentiment and the prose. Unfortunately in the rest of the book the characters are insufferable and disappointingly typically-2008 teenagers using ableist and homophobic slurs every third paragraph.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racism and Vomit

rugbygirlreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

mattyb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Dysphoria

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Car accident, and Alcohol

fanboyriot's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-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

5.0

Read For:

Road Trip

Small Town

Good Friendships

High School Setting 

Missing Person/Runaway

I loved the writing style of this book.  The adventure and mystery was so entertaining to read.  It felt a bit ridiculous but it was so enjoyable to read.  Though the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I was hoping for.

Release Date: 16, October 2008

POV: First Person

Spice: n/a

Rep: BIPOC (SC)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Car accident

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Blood

bbbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

shadow_seven's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

It has such a strong and powerful meaning about frinedship, mental instability, regrets, abandonment, love, revenge and it is so impactful for teens who are graduating high school. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship

All of John Greens books although may seem predictable they actually aren't and usually have a very strong connection with mental health/illness and a strong connection to personal relationships and parental support/involvement.

grboph's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I read this book in middle school and decided to re-read it after finding a copy in a junk store for a quarter. My perception of it was definitely different this time around. I think the characters were well-developed, the story was compelling and entertaining, and the general message (that we never really know what is going on with other people and that people and things never exist in the ways you imagine them to) was nice, and that it was conveyed in a unique, creative way. I do think it tries a bit too hard to be profound at times (like the extensive and at times exhausting use of Walt Whitman quotes) and that it could have gotten its message across just as effectively without being so emo about it. While I loved Radar, Ben, and Lacey as characters (as well as Q's parents), I found the characters of Q and Margo to be sort of insufferable. Unfortunately, they are the two main characters, and the story is all about Margo and told from Q's point of view. In short, I thought Q was incredibly self-centered and for someone whose parents are both therapists, he had a remarkable lack of awareness that girls also, in fact, have thoughts and feelings and lives just like everybody else. Margo clearly had some mental health issues and shitty parents, but I still found her to be a bit "not-like-other-girls"-y and in my opinion, she does not treat those around her with the greatest degree of respect or kindness. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this book due to John Green's writing and the interesting story, but the fake-deepness and annoying narrator definitely made me reconsider why I enjoyed this book so much when I was thirteen. (Of course, maybe that says something about the book's target audience, but I digress.) I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good road-trip story or is into books that are pretty meta and reference lots of other books to move their plots along.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bizzarley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Not bad, not amazing; Very middle of the road. The side characters were very likeable and I liked the dynamic between the group towards the end, The chemistry was really good. Ending was a little?? eh, not what I was expecting but I enjoyed it as my first John Green book, will def be reading more of his stuff!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

leilaliw's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, and Car accident

Minor: Ableism and Toxic relationship