Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Lion's Den by Katherine St. John

9 reviews

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an absolutely delicious thriller. It unfolds at a steady pace, with a slowly creeping sense of wrongness that starts from the beginning. Belle is an intriguing heroine, with a lot of backbone but enough of doormat syndrome to understand why she's stayed friends with Summer for so long. The luxuriousness is lush and fun, and St. John does a great job of showing the dark underbelly of that type of wealth - extreme control, misogyny, awful business practices, etc. I was really invested in where the story was going, and the way things unravel was extremely satisfying. I loved this one!

The romance feels a little shoehorned in - I was way more invested in Summer and Belle's friendship - and the ending of course wraps things up a little too perfectly. But I can forgive those minor nits - this book is an incredibly fun romp.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

ehoustonmyatt's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a little slow to start and then picked up and had a few surprises I didn’t see coming and then dropped off again with an ending that felt a little confusing and anticlimactic. Overall a decent beachy thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide attempt

sgrifgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

thimi_time's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

What a gripping book, I was hooked reading about the shady dealings of the wealthy and elite (and those trying to be the wealthy and elite). I liked how the end tied in nicely with some parts in the middle of the book, as well as the non-linear narrative that was similar to Memento. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual content

amcfadden's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

collinsd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

shaziareads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

kyriannaj's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

0.5

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK!!!

This book is a bit complicated. The ending plot twists help explain the main character's actions throughout, but without knowing them it seems as if the main character has no issue with the things happening to her and around her. It does an amazing job slowly delving more and more into the past giving you just enough information each time to understand another piece of the puzzle without fully knowing everything. However, the way the book deals with certain triggering topics comes across as very casual and with no regard for the severity of them. Additionally, the traumatic events are never fully dealt with in the book and simply exist in the background before eventually disappearing, or in one case are used to villify a character. There was a lot of potential with this book but I felt it missed the mark at almost every point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail