Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

27 reviews

alexandryareads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

foramen_magnum's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors, so returning to his works is like catching up with an old friend... Even if they weren't your favorite, they make you feel nostalgic. 

Fight Club is clearly early in his career and the elements of his style are being experimented upon. While sometimes it hits his razor sharp mania, other times it feels very stream of consciousness as told by characters who just aren't always that interesting. Shock value is a trademark of his style but here it feels gratuitous, where in other books it feels immersive. Still, he makes his point, and his critique of capitalism and hyper masculinity is absolutely clear. If this is your first tango with Chuck, I'd recommend you start with Rant before checking out Fight Club, but don't count this one out entirely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

nb_leftist's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

It seems to be a commentary on white supremacist right wing extremist movements and how they’re fucking idiotic, but I can’t tell if that’s what the author meant it as or not. I don’t think it really matters cause there’s not one specific thing that a story can mean and in the afterword Palahniuk even writes about how he kind of just wrote it. Either way it’s definitely a good piece of writing. It keeps you interested and it keeps moving throughout. I finished it in probably 2-3 hours and it felt like 30 minutes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sobake_cih's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It’s one of my fav books since my teens, so I’m very biased. But reading it now so many years later gave me so much more to think about. A truly iconic book.

It’s a lot more dark and twisted than the film, and many issues in society and the world in general mentioned and discussed in the book are very present to this day, even though it was published almost 30 years ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

vexant's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Car accident, and Murder

getlostdave's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Suicide attempt

mylou's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion

marxxx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Self harm and Murder

abrasieve's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Gun violence