Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

27 reviews

evanthebooknerd's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Car accident

Teenage angst with happy ending.

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

1.0

I skipped around and read the ending after Jeremy was complaining again about his issues. Every character made me want to revaluate my own decisions and personal life. Never been happier to be single. The arson was honestly not the craziest thing about this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

aspencross's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

The main characters in this book need 👏ther-👏a-👏py👏
Naomi and Ben also deserved better and both deserved to be homecoming king and queen.

-Jeremy is an asshole who’s only consequence is getting punched by a bully when he is such a shit friend to everybody
- the boy also complains about not wanting to be a victim and then victimizes himself all the time
- Jeremy does so much shit in this book and we’re told that he’s popular and was popular before he transitioned and I do not understand how when he’s so insufferable 
- I was on Lukas’s side until

he lit the school on fire, cheated on Naomi, almost ruined Ben’s Life by not admitting he cheated on a test by stealing the answers

. I get he’s going through a lot but he went way too far. 
- I have never rooted for 2 characters to never get together as much as Jeremy and Lukas 
- The ending was horrible because there’s so many plot points that are left unopened like

Terry stealing 30k from the school and never facing consequences, principal not getting reprimanded for giving a teenager a card with thousands of dollars, the potential updated code of conduct, what universities the students got into, how their lives went after not winning homecoming court, Lukas’s parent’s divorce

.

Side note: the author has also apparently done some shit and is lesphobic. This Reddit post has links and more information https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/s/JuVfSwXcrt 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

megbee95's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Racial slurs and Toxic friendship

rayaufebay's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

fanboyriot's review against another edition

emotional tense 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

3.0

Read For:

Rivals to Lovers 

Second Chances

Homecoming King

Cheerleader x Football Player

Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

The only thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is: “I love it and hate it at the same time” and really I kind of do.

The queer kids in this book were amazing, everyone else just kinda sucked.  The trans rep in this was so painfully well written.  The things Jeremy thought and the way he described how he felt was as heartbreaking as it was relatable.

But wow, were these characters so toxic.

Naomi was such a horrible friend it was laughable.  She was jealous constantly and she just goes and asks out her best friend’s ex, who had made it clear he didn’t like her like that??  Like why??  All because of some banters that were messed up, I get being petty but bro have a good reason.

Lukas was so toxic.  One minute he was fine, going through a lot at home and having to always be the best at everything.  He had to get into an amazing college, he had to win homecoming king because if he did that then he would get into a good school, then his family would care about him like they did his dead brother… yeah, because that's how it’s going to work.  So he took his anger out on Jermey.

Jeremy was also toxic, just not as bad in my opinion.  He was selfish and breaking up with his boyfriend when and how he did it was so incredibly messed up but people acted like he was the worst person ever.  He literally had no one.  His mom was so desperate to have a daughter she failed her son in the process.  Jeremy might have been a mess but wouldn’t you be when everyone failed you and had no problem telling you that they hated you, he was bullied, harassed, and misgendered constantly.

The last few chapters were the best.  Everything coming together, the person who got the crown, the drama being resolved finally, and the relationships being settled.

(Switching, First Person POV)

Spice: Lightly Mentioned

Rep: trans (ftm) MC, Autistic MC, Non-Binary SC, Latinx SC

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

dyamonddd's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

0.5

i dont usually find myself writing a review, okay? i am not a critic, i’m usually just here to vibe and move on. but THIS? this shit sucked fr. and i’m disappointed bc i went into this thinkin it was gonna be a cute little rivalry from a breakup turned into love again aka enemies (in some capacity) to lovers, but like literally that’s not what i got. 
what i got was literally the most INSUFFERABLE main characters ever — actually, pretty much everyone in this book is SHIT — and a half assed plot that literally went into like 400 different other things and was just a mess. a mess! this also has lots of problematic elements like, it was just really jarring for this to be like a YA type of story for there to be like INSANE dark elements and animosity and like everyone in this story is just so unnecessarily ugly to each other, it’s just awful. 
ALSO: the romance literally is kinda shoved down your throat, like throughout this whole thing there is NOOOOO basis for them to be together at all but somehow its just quickly made to happen at the tail end like???? i DONT UNDERSTAND.
the way i will never get my fucking two days back that i spent reading this is SAD. TRAGIC. HEARTBREAKING. i wanted to dnf so many times just spare yourselves if you’re thinking of reading it, i literally think finishing it has made me lose many brain cells and i’m so sad. it’s only getting a star for sol and another quarter bc of philip’s downfall, and even that wasn’t satisfying bc of all the other bullshit in this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

WOW. 

A gripe I usually have with queer fiction - especially queer YA fiction - is that the queer characters are not allowed to be messy disasters. There is a very limited amount of disaster allowed for queer characters before they have to be consumed by guilt and apologies.

That is not a problem here! These guys - the two main characters, Jeremy and Lukas - are selfish and angry and hurting and think that ruling a high school via Homecoming Court can fix that. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that it obviously can't. There are some truly painful moments in here, but I loved that. I loved that they did awful things that I totally would've also done if I'd been in their scared and miserable positions when I was seventeen. This is not making excuses for them, though - they are completely in the wrong most of the time- just, it makes their character growth wayyy more satisfying than usual. 

This author clearly has a very nuanced understanding of queerness, and he approached how transitioning goes from a number of angles, including an important one that I don't usually see - that trans people themselves need to grow into their genders and resist toxic behaviors for the sake of validity. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by the autistic representation in Lukas, which I wasn't aware of before I started reading this. I appreciate that a trans gay guy and an autistic got to be assholes and not use their identities as an excuse, but that those identities were integral to how they process the world. That's a fine line to balance, and I think Ellor did a great job.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Classism

-F-slur used a few times

gigi785's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

The chapters are written off of one of the main character’s POV which makes it all very easy to get frustrated by the decisions they make😭

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

addyisnothere's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War