Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Supper Club, by Lara Williams

13 reviews

angewilliamson's review

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

0.25

This books sucks. It sucks so bad that I hope no one ever attempts to read it. If you want to hate someone, Roberta is the perfect character because she has very little redeeming qualities, so little that I can’t even think of something nice to say about her right now. This book has random inserts of sexual thoughts that DO NOT fit in with the previous thought accompanying it. Seriously, Lara Williams must have thought of every negative stereotype that effects women and decided to reinforce them rather than diminish them. These women have so much potential to be utilized in this story and they just aren’t. It makes you wonder what their point even is, which probably just boils down to them being “diversity” points. 

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culown's review against another edition

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3.75

Loved the beginning but it git a little slow at the end. ADORED the recipes at the start of the chapters and the structure in general.
Ps. It gets pretty heavy during some passages so check the tws. 

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akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is like dark academia with food. 

Honestly the food metaphors are incredible, the subtlety of the food reflecting the story arc is really cool. I loved Roberta, I loved her journey. I loved the imagery and I loved analysing this book. 

I wish we knew what she chose, but I think it’s fairly clear that she chooses Adnan. I also think Stevie is a total controlling bitch, but she has her moments.

I like the themes of nonconformity, of trying to be yourself. Overall this is a really easy read, and a really interesting one.

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wild_er_ness's review

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

3.5


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rivalmancy's review against another edition

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2.0


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savvylit's review

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

3.5

Supper Club is a reflective and often very sad slice-of-life novel. University student Roberta is desperately lonely and preyed upon by men. Late twenties Roberta is doing a bit better but she still carries the insecurities that have haunted her since school.

Supper Club as a whole shines the brightest through its primary concept: the club itself. The sections where new members are introduced were some of the most interesting and empathetic portions of the whole book. And the club meetings themselves were quite entertaining! As many women know, there is still an abundance of gender norms that can be difficult to escape. Imagining the women of this novel doing so and being gluttonous & unrestrained was delightful.

Eventually, however, the titular Supper Club fades into the background when Roberta enters into a serious monogamous relationship. At this point, I lost interest a bit. I understand the inclusion of this relationship as an obstacle to Roberta's friendship with Stevie. However, that didn't make it any less frustrating to read. Too much time was wasted describing the (frankly lackluster) relationship. Not to mention that diverting from the emphasis on sisterhood and radical norm-busting was a mistake, in my opinion. Eventually, the ending redeemed this choice... but not really.

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kateali's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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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purplewaterbottle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was life changing. The writing, the story, the characters: they were so engaging I couldn't put it down, I always craved more. It made me feel a thousand different emotions at once. 
The characters were not likable, but I don't think they were meant to be. There is a difference between characters who are supposed to be liked and characters who aren't, and the ones we have here are definitely in the second category. They aren't perfect - the exact opposite, actually - but I still like them, because they have DEPTH, which is exactly what I look for in a character. 
This book made me breath and choke at the same time and I loved every second of it. You feel free and anchored to it but you can't decide which you prefer - if you have a preference at all. The recipes were (ironically) the cherry on top. 

The only problem I encountered was, maybe, all the names. I remembered some of them but others were just too easily forgotten. 

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mermaidsherbet's review

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

2.0


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pearcoats's review

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

3.0


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