Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

3 reviews

phillyhufflepunk's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I cried...but not from sadness. I cried in frustration. This is one of the starkest tragedies ever written, told from the perspective of selfish, inane narrators - under the delusion that they are somehow a part of the story. With each new development, they...and the self-involved upper middle class d bags that they spawned from...fail the Lisbon girls. Over and over and over, the community has opportunity to step in, but they don't. As these boys chronicle the downward spiral of their Manic Pixie Dream Girls, they continuously miss the moments in which they actually could have saved them.

The boys literally run out of the house after finding one of the girls dead without checking on any of the others, in spite of the fact that they were there to save them in the first place AND that they were about to let Lux do one or all of them just 10 minutes earlier.

 The Lisbon Girls deserved better, and although the story would have been 10x better from their perspectives, I still rate it 4 stars because by hearing the story from a bunch of clueless middle aged men, who were clueless teenaged boys, you see just how ignored these girls felt when they were practically SCREAMING for help.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

_tabby_'s review against another edition

dark sad 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

3.75

"Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a thirteen-year-old girl"
The concept of the book is about the tragedy of growing up as sheltered girls with no outlet for the suicidal thoughts. Although Cecilia's initial reason for suicide and her attempts remains unknown, its clear that this sheltered life and Mrs Lisbon were the major driving forces in the girls inability to seek help (although the book never stated this explicitly). 
It's told through the POV of a group of boys in the town who were obsessed with the Lisbon girls so the narrative isn't entirely accurate to the thoughts and feelings of the girls themselves but they do state when they know the recollection isn't clear. 
Although i think this narrative choice adds an interesting layer to the story as the narrator is simply obsessed, enamoured and in love with the girls. So rather than giving us deeper insight to the girls from a humane perspective: they simply tell the events, in a factual manner, as they happen and use a collection of multiple boys knowledge to decide what was the most plausible. 
In terms of the book writing itself I found it a very easy read. Doesn't go into too much emotional detail for such a sensitive topic but perhaps that choice is for the best. It keeps the naivety and mystery of the Lisbon girls at the forefront.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic friendship

jessicaa_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Alcohol