Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

37 reviews

mcreasman's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

2.25

I’m so bummed by this book. It was pretty anticlimactic. I know this is Hayley’s first book, but it was so obvious while reading it. It was also read by Hayley and I just wish it was read by a pro because there was definitely a lack of emotion? Idk I know I couldn’t be a professional at this. I think a different narrator would’ve made it sound less cringey. I didn’t like the characters. The main girl, Coley, had just gone through a serious trauma and is also 17 so I’ll give her some slack, but the other characters were all just huge jerks. The main love interest, Sonya, is awful to Coley and yet Coley still idolizes her?? Also the main conflict at the end was incredibly problematic and was brushed over so quickly???? The whole story just really didn’t sit right with me…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Death, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion

alex1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Death of parent, Homophobia, Violence, and Suicide

micaelacccc's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Abortion

jennabeck13's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

2.0

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Genre: Romance

About 305 pages

Sonya is your typical popular teenage girl. She can get any guy she wants, is a beautiful dancer, and gets invited to all the parties. Meanwhile, Coley just moved to town after losing her mother and is trying to make friends, which is how the two of them meet one day. From that day forward, their lives will change. They have an attraction neither has ever experienced before. But Sonya is afraid to come to terms with her sexuality, and Coley is terrified of being left behind again. If they never discuss their feelings for one another, can they ever come together in the way they hoped?

I’ve been a fan of Becca Tilley since she was on The Bachelor, and since she has been dating Hayley, that’s how I came to know Hayley and therefore this book. This was a cute novel, but not my favorite. I feel like it was targeted more at the young adult demographic, as the characters felt very immature at times. I was not a fan of Sonya, but I did like Coley and wish we got to see her stand up for herself more often. I also wish we got to read more about how her relationship with her dad grew, as I really enjoyed the little bit of that that we got in this book.

Favorite Quote: “We can’t control what people do— how they betray us or even why. How they leave our lives. So many people are running scared. And sometimes they run back to us and earn back our trust. But the ones who don’t come back— or who don’t work to earn back what they lost from us— we have to learn how to let them go.”

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Blood, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

historianvik's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed like 95% of the book. The plot was interesting and I loved how the characters were built. I hadn't seen the music video before (watched it after I read the book) so it was all new to me. I think things were too fast towards the end. I like how Curtis wasn't villianized and actually present. I wanted more from the ending

Spoiler

i wanted curtis's reaction and to read about the consequences of trenton's actions. Also how Colby and Sonia naviagted school beyond the summer

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Addiction

taylorsevalia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Loved the small town vibes and coming of age queer story! This year, I started to gravitate more towards audiobooks after it took me years to find the kind of audiobooks I like. I’m happy to say I decided to listen to the audiobook first because this is the best one I’ve read! I need Hayley Kiyoko to narrate all the books from now on and for me to read more books that tell stories as atmospherically as this one did! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Drug use, Violence, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death of parent, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Outing, Cursing, Car accident, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy, Blood, Classism, and Abortion

ceeshay's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Homophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Outing, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

parsa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide

nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Drug use, and Death of parent

zoopalsfanaccount's review against another edition

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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book more than I did but I just found so many of the relationships to be so unhealthy and not fully addressed as such :( 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

Minor: Classism, Abortion, Vomit, and Pregnancy