Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Seven Exes

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Seven Exes by Lucy Vine

4 reviews

leligavi's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

1.0

This book should have easily been a 3 or 4 star read, but it just really really wasn't. I didn't like the main characters at all, except maybe Lou

once I found out she wasn't really cheating. But the whole book you think she is and I can't STAND cheating tropes. So the book was already a goner and by the time they reveal she's just foreplaying with Sven, it's too late. It's tainted.

So, I didn't like it. I wish we had more time with

Nick, because everyone else just really really sucked. Except for Rich the Bastard.

And while the story's main focus was on Bibi's, Esther's, and Lou's friendship, I feel like there was this manic obsession of the mission and a lack of communication amongst them that felt so frustrating. I just think it was so oddly written and then when the book was wrapping up, everything just had an explanation...and if it was so easily explained, why the heck were they so concerned about not sharing it or explaining it?
Really didn't like it. Kinda sucks.

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beckyyreadss's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I wanted to read this book after I met Lucy back in October. She was so lovely and wanted to get it when I met her, but the book was sold out after the event, I am going to another book event this month and wanted to read this book as I promised her I would. My brother gifted me this book for Christmas, I really enjoyed it.

This book is based on Esther. She is nearing thirty, with a great job and a flat she shares with her two best friends, Bibi and Louise. But her life is missing that special someone, she is tired of being single and sick of bad date after bad date and she thinks she’s found the answer to her romance problem in an old women’s magazine. According to the magazine’s dating column, there are seven archetypes a woman will date before finding Mr. Right. It all seems silly at first, until Esther realizes she has exactly seven exes that match the profile: The First Love; The Work Mistake; The Overlap; The Friends with Benefits; The Missed Chance; The Bastard and The Serious One. Is it so hard to believe that perhaps one of them is “the one”? Deciding she must have left her true love in the reject pile, Esther contacts each of her old lovers. But finding her soulmate isn’t as simple as she hoped it would be. Madness, mayhem, laugh and tears ensure as she valiantly works her way through her past love life and faces up to her previous mistakes.

This storyline was so funny and adorable and I'm glad that this book didn’t end up being a full romance story and then it ended up being a development of Esther’s character. Esther did take a while to grow on me and I think one of the main reasons is I kept forgetting she was over thirty. I kept thinking she was in university with a part time job like Katie, but this is a grown ass woman who wasn’t happy that she didn’t have her person, but she didn’t realise that until further into the book. Bibi and Louise really kept this book and Esther grounded and I enjoyed their presence. I am Louise as a friend – I will be politely blunt and stop being all delusional.

Each of these exes were rememberable and it didn’t feel like one was liked more than the other, though Esther was trying to push to be with one more than the other. I could never picture meeting my exes ever after and I'm glad of the way it ended.

I enjoyed Lucy’s style of writing, and I cannot wait to meet her again and to read her newest book when it is released in May.

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kfmcf's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.25

Oy.
BIG TW for this book - the last third deals with a lot of non-consensual moments with a man in power.

This book is not a romance. It's barely chick lit. I don't honestly know what it is. It feels like someone had a movie idea and then just decided to write an underdeveloped book instead.

Esther is awful. There's a fine line between quirky and sardonic and obnoxious and distasteful. She's very immature and she must have been the hottest woman on the face of the earth since everyone was falling for her. Again. Oy.

I wanted to like her friends, but honestly they wouldn't talk to each other and their blow out felt like middle schoolers. And the toilet thing got old.

WHY should I care or be invested in her choosing Nick? It's not something that's been built up to. We haven't seen him in like 10 chapters and then it's just like OOP BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING HARDY HAR. No. I did. Because you LAVEL YOUR CHAPTERS WITH THEIR NAMES. And I happened to glance at the chapter titles in the TOC and so *maybe* that worsened this "twist" but like?! Why would he want to get with her so quickly?! Baffled. Truly.

I had fun with the first third or so of this book. It is *very* British which is not a bad thing at all, but might take some adjustments for some folks. I just wish their had been ANY character development across the board and we actually got time with some important ones who didn't get enough page time. I also do think it would have been a better movie.

If you like this concept - read "Exes and O's" by Amy Lea. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea but it is a better execution of revisiting your exes.

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

Thank you to Harper Perennial for the eARC! All opinions expressed are my own.

The story switches between past and present with looks back at each of the seven exes and 3 interactions from the past that explains their relationship from how it started to how it ended!

I mean it’s not life-changing literature that makes you examine your life (which isn’t a bad thing!); it’s an easy and enjoyable enough read. The writing is okay but there are some parts that felt forced like the discussions on feminism and the patriarchy, it was randomly placed and made no sense.

Esther’s friends feel more like background characters there to prop up Esther instead of being fully formed, complex characters themselves. We get zero descriptions of any characters so I couldn’t picture anybody, I usually prefer at least some descriptions. And Esther is clearly a shitty friend.

Esther is kind of immature and selfish (she’s like Carrie from Sex and the City, and I mean that in a derogatory way 😂), i didn’t hate or love her but felt meh towards her and just couldn’t get myself to really care about her, often feeling annoyed at her playing the victim with her friends and a couple of her exes.

The ending was well done but predictable (I saw it coming by the 15% mark). Reminds me of What’s Your Number-that 2010s romcom with Anna Faris and Chris Evans-and kind of gives me Sex and the City vibes. It’s a fun, quick read which I think many will enjoy especially as a beach read! I didn’t love it or hate it, it was a decent enough read that was enjoyable but ultimately forgettable and one dimensional.

Rep: bi MC, WLW romance

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