Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Asesinato para principiantes by Holly Jackson

249 reviews

sphlvl's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Violence, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Stalking

Moderate: Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death, Rape, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Blood, Cancer, Self harm, and Dementia

nolemdaer's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

This was so much fun! I absolutely flew through it in basically one sitting—the quick pace and production log inserts paired with short, action-packed narrative chapters made it go down incredibly easy, as well as an enticing mystery where it was enjoyable and satisfying to see all the parts fit together. Pip is a fun narrator, although the “good girl” shtick wasn’t really played with (which might have actually been a boon; I don’t know if I could have stood her being referred to as a “good girl” incessantly for the sake of the title). The investigation included Pip and Ravi actually doing a lot, which is always great to see in a murder mystery—and a good amount of what she was doing included nitty-gritty bureaucratic stuff like scanning old Facebook pages or utilizing Rights to Information acts to gain access to old interviews. It added a touch of realism, even if you know many of the clues just fall a little too perfectly into place. I loved the ending and some of the answers we got.

I don’t think this is a thicky plotty mysterious procedural masterpiece, but I also don’t think anyone was asking for it to be. It was a sharp, exciting YA mystery with a likable cast of characters that tied itself up nicely without being trite. Some of the “social awareness” parts were laid on a little thick, like the Jackson suddenly realized she needed to acknowledge how racism and bias might play out in the book and scrawled out a few paragraphs to make sure she was covered, but I’m not going to begrudge that too much. Super enjoyable time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Animal death, and Drug use

Minor: Rape, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault

CW: roofies

abception's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

OK, I see the hype.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Bullying

Minor: Toxic friendship, Confinement, Drug use, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Dementia, and Fatphobia

zam_ahaana's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book genuinely broke my brain. The plot twists at the end?? They hit you like a TRUCK. I had CHILLS in the reveal. 10/10 book, I WISH I could re-read it for the first time again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Car accident, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship

katariinatoivanen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pedophilia, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Murder, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use and Rape

sami_kei's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Death, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, and Mental illness

lunxchloe's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

First half was slow but picked up the pace in the second half. A very enjoyable read and not at all predictable like I had worried.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

marissasa's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

This book was very entertaining and had some great twists. I always like when mystery stories sprinkle clues towards the true ending throughout, especially when they aren't obvious, and then when the reveal comes you remember the small details and see that the author did a great job of paving the path forward while you were already walking on it. This happened several times in my read through, and although some of the clues were obvious and stood out to me, the ones that weren't made for a great twist and ending that were satisfying. My biggest criticisms of this book are that the main character is named Pippa despite being American and that she is capable of so much more as a detective than she really should be considering she is a high schooler who has never done this before. After reading, I learned that this book was originally set in the UK as the author is British and that it was changed to America for the US publication, and my only thought was "wtf why?" It really didn't need to be changed in this way and I wouldn't have minded her name being Pippa as much (I still mind a little because I think it's an ugly name) if she was British in the edition I read. Overall it was a fun and entertaining read and I will be tuning in once the TV adaptation drops.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

meaghanslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Do you ever pick up a book and partway through you realize, wait I’ve read this before?

That’s what happened to me. I started reading a good girls guide to murder and then I was like wait why do I feel like I know what’s going to happen.

Then, I realized I’ve read the book already but it was before I started keeping track of my ratings.

I’m watched a YouTube video that breaks down the book because I don’t exactly remember the details but I remember thinking it was an interesting style of writing and the plot twist of the actual killer did kind of get me. I can’t rate this book that highly because I did forget I read it. 

 I do have the second book, which I’m sure I haven’t read yet and the positive reviews of this series also make me want to continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Self harm, Bullying, Car accident, Sexual assault, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Emotional abuse