Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

5 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I adored the storyline of this book! Four best friends, Zoey, Celsete, Valeria, and Jasmine, are what are know as Hollow. The Hollowing was a viral ghoul contagion that turned part of the population into flesh eating monsters. As a solution, scientists developed SynFlesh, synthetic human flesh. As the girls head to a Southern California music festival for the weekend, weird things begin to happen, starting with Val attacking and eating one of the performers. I love that this focused on all four girls and their journeys from normal, to hungry flesh eating ghoul, to reformed and relatively normal Hollow person. I think the fun girls trip turned murder mystery zombie adventure is hilarious and hugely engaging. My issues stem from the chronology. This book would flash forward and backward between each girl pretty frequently. The issue is the different times were not explicitly stated so it became a tad confusing. Also Zoey was the main character but shared the stage (she should either been telling this in first person or had a more equally divided story). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sav_22's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

This was a fun ride! It’s a perfect balance of horrifying and endearing. The main group is a group of girls trauma bonded by the event that changed the world known as The Hollowing. I found all of the girls to be relatable and intriguing to get to know; even when it mainly follows a first person one narrator format, we get pov switches in the form of flashbacks in 3rd person to dive into other characters. There’s romance and a hint of a love triangle, but I would say that it is very much a subplot to the overall plot. All of the four main characters are sapphic, which to me is something I always appreciate when writers realistically write queer people sticking together.

There are some questions left unanswered imo, and it’s kind of an open ending, but it doesn’t deter from the overall satisfaction of the book for me. There are some intense horror elements like body horror and gore, but it wasn’t overdone or overzealous. I really enjoyed reading the evolution of the main couple, even if it wasn’t a major focus and it was predictable I think that it complimented the story and themes well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

samburkhouse's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Confinement, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria