Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana

53 reviews

legitimatesalvage's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

momostark's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder

elonn's review

• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

stephanieluxton's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I was a little hesitant to give this book 5 stars because it wasn't absolutely perfect by any means, however I really enjoyed reading it. Some parts made me incredibly uncomfortable but they weren't there just for shock value - they did add to the story.

I don't like the official synopsis for this story because I feel like it reveals a little too much of things that would be better as a surprise. This is the story of Lori, a nearly 40 year old woman who has been having a correspondence via letters and visits with a brutal serial killer named Edmund, who's in jail. After developing a sense of trust and kinship, Edmund tasks Lori with going on a mission to deliver something to The River Man. Lori, wanting to prove her devotion, accepts the quest (bringing along her disabled sister), which turns out to be darker journey than she could have ever imagined. 

This book is neat because it jumps back and forth between Lori and Abby's journey along the river to Lori's adolescence, where we are given the information needed to understand why Lori is the way she is. We also get glimpses of Lori and Edmunds letters to each other as the story goes on. The pacing in this book is excellent. Things are revealed gradually and we get a deep look into Lori's psyche.

Some of this is uncomfortable to read but it works. I'm not sure the book ended in the most satisfying way but the ending worked.

A few parts of this story, more so towards the beginning of their journey were quite unsettling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and War

These are major spoilers but the worst things that happen in this book are:

We find out Lori repeatedly molested and blackmailed her little brother when she was a teenager to the point where he developed an eating disorder and died from the shame and humiliation. There's a scary scene in a cellar in which Lori finds a rotting desecrated corpse and needs to reach inside it to retrieve a key - the description is pretty intense. Lori is responsible for her sister's disability and brain damage after pushing her off a cliff. Edmunds letters to Lori are pretty off-putting - he describes his fetish for killing and SAing asian women based off of the atrocities his uncle committed in vietnam - the descriptions aren't too intense but it's still unpleasant.

kkalicky94's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

ohsunnyaa's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.5

First of all,  I expected this to be messed up but not in this

(incest)

way. I read this for gore and murder and I'm not really satisfied with what I got. I felt like for the majority of the book nothing happened. Yes, some parts were shocking

incest rape

, but shocking doesn't mean good.
It's also very obvious a man wrote this because of how the female characters were acting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and War

amandak87's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Blood

lunababybat's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was disturbing in the way banal evil is disturbing. While it has supernatural elements, the real evil in this story is the day-to-day atrocities anyone is capable of. It showcases how even rotten people do feel things, but can always find a way to justify their behaviors to themselves even if they can't to others. Even the River Man has a point; he doesn't make anyone do anything. Whatever they chose to do after meeting him was in them all along, and the journey to meet him is what really brings that negativity out. Someone has to have a bad seed in them to go searching for him in the first place. Not to get into spoilers, but the author has a way of making realistic characters and his writing fits the theme/setting of the story (except for his obsession with the word "sluiced", it felt out of place and a bit like a word of the day calendar prompt). When the big reveal of Lori's first taboo was about to play out, I actually felt my stomach drop. She starts out as s sympathetic character, but the more you learn about her, the more you understand that evil isn't just the serial killers that rip people open. I loved this, to the point I'm not sure I even want to read the sequel to preserve what this book gave me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

aedoran08's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Eating disorder and Toxic relationship

racl's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

This book singlehandedly put me into a months long reading slump, but I persevere.

The writing style is good, but the content is gratuitous and leans towards shock horror than anything else. Not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Violence

The incest in particular is more graphic than necessary and involves children, please be careful if this is a trigger