Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

105 reviews

spuriousdiphthongs's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

kajoreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

I didn’t really feel the romance. Their crushes on each other came across as part jealousy, part idealization. Their story had potential, but I needed more moments of them actually connecting. Yami pretending to be straight around Bo for most of the book certainly didn’t help.

I did enjoy the book though. I was wholeheartedly rooting for Yami the entire time.

There were some moments that really took me out the book though.. The fortnite dancing?? I wish the editor had put their foot down on that one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

mamaewalk's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Outing

Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

anni_banani's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-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

5.0

Sonora Reyes you are one of my favorite authors after reading this book. 5 stars for healing my heart

First let me say that I completely trust Sonora after reading both of their books. This book covers plenty of traumatic issues and character's struggle but I never was triggered. The content warning in the beginning of the book enough for me. I was tense at times but my butt was relaxed rather than tense enough to make a diamond from coal. 

I was in love with both MCs, loved them together, loved their romance. no lesbian tropes here! The best lesbian romance I've ever read period.

this was a fast read that pulled me in and I gobbled it up so fast. I was happily surprised by the ending!

Why this 5 stars for me - The book healed me in so many ways baby girl

• seriously the queer relationships were that good. yay no toxic bullshit!
• I loved the characters so much. sometimes i'm not that lucky...
• I related so much to the family dynamics and really felt seen the way they were represented
• I loved the mother's turn around. It was healing to see that as well as see how some parents will never pick up the wake up call. I was sus of the mother Maria but she really earned her spot. parents struggling with accepting their children, this is a great place to start
• my first Indigenous Mexican MC
• really meaningful discussion of Race and Cultural Identity
• struggling with self acceptance while still having pride and love for yourself
• The evolution of In Lak’ech Ala K’in- i can feel the stiches on my heart from that one
• the way Bo absolved Yamilet of her catholic guilt on confession day though thats not how it was for Caser

im writing a sequel in my head, its so good!

Fan made read along playlist that is so effing good and incredibly specific https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5WYsthkEiPGBifWlYVijvg?si=0zLn1iSnQeOLfBGbnAkZYQ&pi=u-HaacJAh-SM-u

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

Minor: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts

Chap 22

alreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

the only thing im upset about is how long it took me to read this book. such an actually incredible story about queerness, embracing culture, coming into your own identity and exploring the hardships life brings especially to those in minority communities. 100/10 recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

Minor: Blood

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. It does deal with topics like coming out, racism, homophobia, depression, etc, but it handles them with care and doesn't do it to an extreme extent. I feel like, while it could be triggering for some, it could also potentially be healing once someone's in a place where they're ready for that. All the characters were fantastic and I loved them all so much. I won't say much, but it does end in a good place. If you're concerned about the content warnings and want some spoilers in relation to those, here you go:

One of the main character's parents turns out to be homophobic but the other doesn't. Both siblings are doing well at the end. I found the way the non-homophobic parent reacted to the kids coming out was very lovely and heartwarming. In general, some slurs are used, there's homophobic school bullying, and internalized homophobia is discussed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Deportation

Minor: Racial slurs and Police brutality

cats_and_rabbits's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its twists and turns.  I began to feel so attached to both siblings and each of their journeys, and felt wistful when I completed the book. I am hoping for a spinoff that features the narrator’s brother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Deportation

Minor: Toxic friendship

alyal's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book, the characters and the way the author writes the character, even the small ones, is so realistic and authentic.

I was just kind of sad that her mom ended up accepting her and her brother

but that's only because it doesn't line up with my life experience, which is something I shouldn't expect from these kinds of books lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

jade_moonlight's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Outing

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol

izzyreads13's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.0

So I, enjoyed this book, I had a few things that I didn’t quite love, but the overall story it was trying to tell did speak to me and the characters felt very very real. They were relatable to those of the LGBTQ community and I can see why people enjoyed this book so much. But here are a few things that really threw me off while reading 

-> the mentions of modern day things didn’t do it for me. This book mentions tik tok, Etsy, fortnite and a bunch of modern day things that I personally didn’t enjoy. I feel like these mentions limits the books ability to last a long time just because as the internet grows some of these things are bound to be forgotten or just seen to be cringy and as someone who likes to get lost in a book and not really think of real life things, the mentions of these social media related things didn’t help that. I felt as though it kind of pulled you out of the story at times and it just wasn’t my favorite 

-> while a lot of the feelings in this book feels real some of the scenarios don’t, such as the last thing that occurs in this book, it feels very book-y, as in I couldn’t imagine it happening in real life especially in a book that mentions so many real world things.

On the contrary there are a few things I did like about this book such as how LGBTQ members feel about certain things and navigating the world, the feeling you get when you’re worried of making friends uncomfortable, not knowing how to navigate your feelings, those sorts of things. There were a lot of things I found myself relating to and some of the quotes really hit close to home. However my “lower” rating for this book simply comes from the fact that I don’t see it being a book I often thing about or care for. I did enjoy reading it when I did, I did finish it rather quickly, I did like the book more then I didn’t, however it felt more like a very mild pallet cleanser and I think that’s all it was for me. Was a cute simple romance story navigating struggles, very real struggles, but I’m a reader who enjoys getting lost in more fantastical things and I think that’s why this book didn’t quite do it for me.

I do still recommend it for any member of the LGBTQ community who wants to feel heard to some extent and just wants a cute simply story that they’re going to fly by and relate to. If you do decide to read this book, happy reading!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Deportation