Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

42 reviews

ronanqk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

This book was very inventive and novel. The prose was solid, though not mind blowing. It’s one of those books where I was invested to see how it turned out, not because I saw myself in any of the characters (which obviously is my own personal experience), but it felt like a read out of morbid curiosity and a desire for horror rather than catharsis, character development, or life lessons. It’s definitely a horror book, though I found the grotesqueness of it well-executed. It was always for the sake of the story, never to simply shock a reader. And while the characters were almost all repulsive in their own ways, they were also deeply real and the main character, Erin, is a sympathetic narrator. It’s a fascinating take on a narrative about addiction, recovery, and relationships. Often, the primary metaphor of the novel was over explained and lost its mystique, but it still rang true. The epilogue was overly expository, but that is in fairly high contrast to the rest of the book. 
If you’ve spent any prolonged time in Richmond, VA, this book will trigger your nostalgia for that very special place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Racism and Slavery

theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This was the most frustrating book I've read in a long while. The writing style is good, the concept is interesting, and the horror is very effective. But...the main character and the plot trajectory are both kind of awful. One of my biggest pet peeves in books is when the main character just has the plot happen to them. They're not making decisions that move things forward, they just stand by and things sort of happen around them. This was very much the case for Erin. Every time it seemed like she was going to finally actually make a choice, she just falls right back into the same place she just came from. I don't necessarily think this was an inaccurate way to portray someone battling an addiction, but in this case it made it difficult for me to really engage with the plot; it became very repetitive and tedious to watch Erin make the same choices over and over with the same results. Not my favourite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

santaggy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence

Deeply disturbing. Incredibly well written, but read at your own risk.

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. I think it portrayed drug addiction and toxic relationships really well. There were a couple reveals at the end that I didn't fully see coming but that were hinted well throughout the book.

This book had a fairly unique premise (although similar to the movie, Talk To Me - which I think came out after this book?). There was a lot of grotesque imagery and frightening situations but I felt like this book lacked a certain amount of suspense that I needed to make it truly great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death and Abortion

bibliograflieg's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Abortion

aeverett's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

hoole95's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

ramblepatch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Car accident

triseke's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Car accident, and Murder

scrubsandbooks's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I honestly expected more of a horror story featuring ghosts. I ended up with a commentary on drug abuse and addiction. Which wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't expecting something else entirely. I'm usually one with a strong stomach (I have to be as a trauma nurse) but this sickened me so much, it's a miracle I got through it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, and Vomit

Moderate: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Abortion