Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Guarda-Costas by Katherine Center

66 reviews

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

Cute, lighthearted, wholesome. A little less than believable but a fun time, disappointed that there is zero spice but so much sexual tension. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lethaltea's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

vj_thompson's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-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? No

5.0

This book was a funny witty romance. The banter and the character’s relationship was cute and fun. This is my favorite type of romance; where there is a little bit of thrill along with everything else.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, and Car accident

Minor: Cursing and Physical abuse

nataliapassos's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Car accident, and Death of parent

xandra_lyn's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

This was such a cute story! So much to love! 
-I loved both Hannah and Jack. 
-I loved the found-family atmosphere of the Hannah's job. 
-I loved how Hannah stood up for herself and how she admitted when she was wrong. 
-I loved Hannah's character growth. 
-I loved how Jack and Hannah supported each other 

I felt like the reviews were all over the place for this book, so I will address some of the issues here. 
-There was some woman bashing from Hannah  (in regards to a rival for Jack's attention). I probably wouldn't have noticed it unless someone here hadn't mentioned it first, but it was a little bothersome once I noticed.
- there was nothing cringe worthy in my opinion. 
- the pacing was a little off in that out of the blue something crazy happens at the end. Don't want to give spoilers, so I won't go into details. But it was out of left field (it got resolved quickly). Otherwise the pacing was great.
- there was a lot of telling instead of showing. However, I didn't mind it that much, and the showing scenes were really cute and got the message across of how Jack and Hannah's relationship was developing.

Cons not mentioned: this is so petty, but it really bothered me - the author uses a TON of double negatives. It's not incredibly troublesome, just a little inconvenient, especially if you read fast.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Car accident

Ok, all of those look really heavy, but none of them are incredibly graphic. They are just a main part of the story, so they get brought up (or are a major part of a scene). Cancer: Jack's mom has cancer (that's the whole crux that begins the book , so it's not a spoiler). Nothing graphic at all, and not traumatic, but it's a main theme because it's what brings Jack to Hannah's protection agency. Gun violence: a character wields a gun and a bullet grazes another character. Nothing too graphic Alcoholism: two characters have struggled with alcoholics in the family Car accident: a character recounts a traumatic car accident Death: there are several deaths before the story starts that shaped the characters and are discussed. Domestic abuse: this verges on major, just because the character goes into details about her memories of the abuse her mom suffered. Toxic relationship: Hannah's ex is incredibly toxic and brings her down constantly

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

Cute and funny

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

beckyremillard's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.5

this was a really good book! I l usually don't enjoy slow burn/ non-smutty romances as much as I enjoyed this one. The main characters were very likable and quite relatable. They were also well fleshed out. I would have like some of Jack's POV though. It was a hilarious and fun book perfect for a binge read situation!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Car accident

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Toxic relationship

kb33's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

Loved this one. There were so many scenes of Jack and Hannah just talking, spending time together, and growing their connection, and that’s what sets Katherine Center apart from other romance writers who gloss over those types of interactions. I wish there had been more chemistry/steam - for most of the book I was never really sure if they were going to end up together or if she would just end up happy with herself, or someone new toward the end of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

cozyduck's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

A very charming, very pleasant read except for

The description of the brothers accident, and chapters 30-31, but those are intentional.

Not really any

sexually explicit scenes. Normally I like some lol

but with this book I was content without it. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Alcohol

This seems like a TON of content warnings. However unless there's one you're specifically triggered by I want to say that the book does not feel super depressing or upsetting. Yes, the main character is working through things, but the author wrote the story in such a way that there is support, humor, and a lightness to it. The hardest part for me personally was when

Jack was talking about his nightmares about his brother dying, the family's perspective of his brother dying. Chapters 30-31 we're tense but not as hard emotionally.

Other than that there was her annoying

gaslighting ex, and also the talk about her mother being abused.

However in spite of all of that this book brought hope and inspiration.