Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

6 reviews

sam_fielder_137's review against another edition

lighthearted 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? Yes

0.75

I have a really hard time believing that a 40 year old woman wrote this. I'm completely certain she hired a 4th grade class to ghostwrite for her because that's how this reads. I am completely appalled by the lack of both plot development and character development. So much happened in this book but absolutely nothing had any real impact on the rest of the story. Each event lasted for 2 pages and was resolved on the next. There was absolutely no nuance. The author tells us everything exactly as it is. I am embarrassed to have read this and I am still grieving the time I wasted on it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality and Murder

bloodmaarked's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.5

honey what in the hell was this? this is not the book i remember reading as a kid

✧ full review on my tumblr ✧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Slavery, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

whitenoise's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racism, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Abortion

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

epellicci's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I can see where the praise for this book comes from. As a way to introduce a younger audience to racism, privilege and unjust societal structures, it is straight to the point. Potentially a revelation, happening among a setting with characters who still have problems a younger audience can relate to, like homework and complicated feelings for your friends. However, I did not enjoy the book. 

Every relationship was so aggressive, often times to the point of physical violence. There wasn't a single healthy, consistently loving family or friendship. Combined with a plot which never let up on anyone, it made for unlikable characters. I didn't believe in  the main couples on again/off again romance, which lacked any tenderness. Blackman consistently gave us the narrative that they hated one another, their "love" felt based entirely on guilt and familiarity. On top of this, I felt that in an attempt to make the message apparent to the young teen audience, all the nuance had been stripped from the plot. There was no subtlety, which I found killed the atmosphere. While I can totally appreciate what it was trying to do, it fell really flat for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Murder

danileah07's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide attempt

kqlon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol