Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Misrule by Heather Walter

5 reviews

jasmindragon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Such a good book, but weird how they skip over multiple centuries like it's nothing? I expected more of the lovers from the first book and was disappointed. Amazing world-building, betrayal from left and right, angsty lesbians with tension in the royal court, what more could you want.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

WHY MAKE THE ENTIRE ENDING ABOUT "LOVE SAVES THE WAR" AND THE ONES BEING IN LOVE NOT EVEN BEING TOGETHER AFTER CENTURIES OF YEARNING FOR EACH OTHER, VI I AM SO COMING AFTER YOU AFTER YOU RECOMMENDING THIS TO ME KNOWING THE ENDING, ITS BULLSHIT. THE FUCKING KISS THEY SHARED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK THAT AURORA INIATED, ONLY JUST FOR HER TO BACK OFF AND SAYING "ITS TOO MUCH", GIRL, YOU STARTED IT!?@? INFURIATINGG AND ALYCE NOT BEING ABLE TO SAY "I LOVE YOU" FOR THE ENTIRITY OF THE BOOK WHILE LOOKING FOR A WAY TO WAKE HER UP FOR A CENTURY LONG IS ALSO, MIS-FKING-CALCULATION, I KNOW THE ALYCE FROM THE PREVIOUS BOOK WOULD HAVE SERENADED HER ON HER KNEES WITH WHATEVER AURORA WISHES TO HEAR. good book tho

mirandyli's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

THIS BOOK WAS SO MESSY! The plot of the second book was so much worse than the first one. The first book had great world building, which is expanded on in the second book. But

the main character is hopelessly and problematically in love with her oppressor. It’s a whole mess. There are so many plot twists that will make you so frustrated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

princess_sara_sparkles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Great duology and story. Heart-wrenching the whole way through 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

theespressoedition's review

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

After reading and absolutely obsessing over Malice, I was thrilled to dive into Misrule as soon as possible. The previous book left us on a bit of an intense, emotional cliffhanger and I had to know what happened next...

...what I wasn't expecting was for this book to take place 100 years in the future. That threw me for a loop, I'll be honest. It also made me a little bit frustrated because it showed that Alyce really hadn't grown at all in that time, but completely given in to every bit of evil that was plaguing her from the get-go.

However, that meant there was nowhere to go but up. It just took a while to get there.

This book was a great deal slower than the first and didn't really suck me in until the final third of the story. I kept expecting crazy twists or exciting magic but instead, it became a bit boring, focusing more on the political intrigue and how all of the creatures/monsters were harmed or taken advantage of over the years.

That being said, the ending was really well done. While there were plenty of predictable moments throughout the book, the conclusion was something that gave me pause. I wasn't fully expecting the resolution, which was super pleasing. In addition to that, it also made the slower aspects of the story more beneficial. I believe that if I were to reread it, I would appreciate it more for how it turned out.

I also feel the need to mention that I read this over the course of a month (as a buddy-read) when it would typically be a book I would finish in a matter of days. If I pick it up again in the future, I'd be curious to see how it would make me feel if I flew through it a little quicker and if that would make it feel like an easier, less monotonous read.

As a duology, I'd give it 4 stars. It's a unique twist on Sleeping Beauty and I really enjoyed how the classic fairytale was reimagined!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Torture and Grief

Minor: Self harm

litalia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury