Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

49 reviews

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

The pacing was so off on this one for me. I was bored the entire book and then drawn in the last 50 or so pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Self harm, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy

nickoliver's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

This wasn't very original, most things were very easily predictable - though admittedly, the very last chapter did take me a bit by surprise, and it did add a bit of a dark, tragic twist. Also, it was very fast-paced, and once I really sat down to read, the pages flew quickly. I just wished the loose ends hadn't stayed so loose; I felt like there were certain plot points that alluded to things that never actually ended up happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Cancer and Miscarriage

sierra_smith_418's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The narrator felt unreliable in an interesting way — I finished the book feeling them at the conclusions given about certain characters actions weren’t true.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexism, Abortion, Murder, and Toxic friendship

tamara_joy's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Vomit, and Classism

angela_mayer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction and Infidelity

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

danajoy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

Probably would've been 5 star if I didnt have to put it down in the middle of the climax.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

losangalex's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

The Villa read like a modern gothic, with the atmosphere oppressive, foreboding, with a stunningly described setting that makes you feel like you’re right there with the characters. Rachel Hawkins deftly explores complex friendships, toxic relationships, and creative tension in a way that was so engaging I just didn’t want to put it down. The twists had me absolutely gasping and the dual pov with shifting timelines just added to the dread and drama of each storyline. 

Honestly, this book made me want to go back to Italy so badly! The setting is so well-depicted, it filled me with so much nostalgia for the Italian countryside. I actually studied abroad in a neighbouring province (Arezzo) to Orvieto and I can attest to the landscape and architecture is as described in this novel. And the photo I used is actually one I took a decade ago while on that trip, but on the island of Capri. 

Thank you so much @stmartinspress and @netgalley for a gifted copy of this gem. I loved Reckless Girls by the same author, so I was delighted when my arc application was accepted for this one—and it did not disappoint! 

*A note on the reading format: I did read this book half as an ebook and half on audio, and while both formats were good, I think I preferred it in ebook form, as I wasn’t a huge fan of Mari’s narrator. That being said, Julia Whelan is one of the narrators in this cast, so for those of you who are a fan of hers, you might want to pick up the audio version based on that alone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Terminal illness

blueeyedshook's review against another edition

4.0

Well that was delicious. Definitely my favorite of Rachel Hawkins thus far. The characters were perfectly flawed without absolutely despising them. And that can be difficult to do. Dare I say, it had low key Verity vibes. Nothing near as wild or crazy, and it wasn’t a “romance” at all—if you can call Verity that. But as far as the plot and the book of Mari’s and Emily reading it. And the TWIST at the end. I could have done without the Mari/Pierce/Noel  part (if you know, you know). But I thought the Emily and Chess relationship was so relatable to long term friendship dynamics so often turning sour (minus the huge fame). Great audio narration. All in all fantastic book with language and sex warnings).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infertility and Sexual content

Minor: Child death

Threesome scene but no graphic detail, lots of language including the c word