Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Converses entre amics by Sally Rooney, Núria Parés Sellarés

246 reviews

happycroissant's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

lumew2's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-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

4.0

idk how i started liking the characters by the end but i did. good god. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Lesbophobia, and Classism

seventhswan's review against another edition

reflective medium-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

Hot take, definitely never posted by anyone before: Sally Rooney is an excellent writer. Her observational and descriptive skills are really like no-one else, and Conversations with Friends was no exception - I didn't want to put this book down, and got the same sense of being acutely seen that I always do from her writing. 

That said, this was definitely my least-favourite book of Rooney's three currently-published novels. In Normal People and Beautiful World, I liked or at least sympathised with the main characters; here I spent most of the book actively hating them, and Frances' voice grated on me throughout. This still represents considerable skill in writing, and I'm not averse to an unlikeable narrator in the slightest, but it did weaken my emotional investment in most of the story.

Or so I thought, until I got to the final chapter, and promptly threw the book at the wall, which is not something I believed people actually did until now. Have I been Frances? Absolutely! Did that make me want to give her head a wobble any less? Absolutely not!

Overall, then, I wouldn't say I enjoyed CwF in the same way that I got genuine delight from parts of Normal People and Beautiful World, but I'm glad I read it, even if a lot of what I liked about it was the smug self-satisfaction that I'm Not Frances Any More.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, and Vomit

zoe_vdv's review against another edition

reflective sad tense slow-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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

theliteraryteapot's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I have absolutely zero tolerance when it comes to adultery so obviously this was not a book for me. Yes, I understand the characters are meant to be very flawed and all that stuff. Okay and then what? It certainly didn't feel like any of them grew out of this. No character development whatsover and they all need therapy. Reading about privileged wealthy and culturally bourgeois white characters is not much interesting to me. They are left-leaning but their political discussions felt so very performative (reminding me of people patting themselves on the back after watching the tv show Dear White People). I've seen people debating on Rooney's writing style and I don't get why? There's nothing to say to it, it's easy to read and very accessible.

Although I have endometriosis, I don't think I can judge the representation that much because it can manifest in many different ways from one person to another. The only thing (maybe I'm nitpicking here), is that no you don't necessarily need a surgery to confirm a diagnosis, an mri scan is enough. And no, endometriosis is not just painful periods and infertility, it's so much more, there are so many other symptoms and different types of pain (outside periods and ovulations).
It's funny because on paper, Frances could have been my representation: bi, endometriosis, poetess, studying literature, financially struggling (except for the fact her uncle owns her apartment), and yet... Nothing worked for me. It's just not for me.

I'm glad it got me out of a reading slump and I'm glad to see endometriosis more in fiction. That's it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

xosevenusagbadan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.0

I was nervous to read Sally Rooney after reading and loving Normal People, but I think somehow I needed to read this books in the stage of life that im in right now. you have no time to think, this books just dives you into Frances’ life. I was completely sucked in even though on the surface I should not have been. I should have been confused and maybe even a but disturbed. It almost reminded me of The Stranger. I think if youre a woman in her 20s that loves to think and contemplate and desire, this book is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

ruth_power's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

All the characters are complex but unique and interesting. Sally Rooney's writing is also unique and authentic - I was completely inside the characters' heads.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

ilovebooks1967's review against another edition

lighthearted 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

3.0

A good book, however sometimes there are somewhat patronising essay-like pages that come across as perhaps pretentious to the reader. Very romantic and enjoyable nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

jmflint27's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective tense medium-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

4.0

I want to preface this review by saying that I did not enjoy or like this book, but I still think there’s something beautiful about it.

Not enjoying or liking it is subjective. In many ways I found this really difficult to read - I should’ve known better as I struggle with one of the main themes in the book (infidelity). But that being said - I wasn’t prepared for how unlikeable the  characters would be beyond this theme. I constantly wanted to slap them upside the head or shake them silly, and the whiny internal monologue of the narrator is painful at times.

But all of that being said - there’s something beautiful about it. Even though I really didn’t like the way the dialogue was written (no quotation marks were used), the wit and thought behind them was clearly there. Rooney clearly knows how to write and describes things in a way that really shake you to your core and almost make you feel intense amounts of empathy for even the most selfish of people. 

Generally I had really mixed feelings and am proud of myself for finishing the book - there were times I didn’t want to.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Self harm