Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

A Influencer by Ellery Lloyd

12 reviews

emmajewish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I quite enjoyed reading this book, despite finding its characters insufferable. The story gives a look into influencer culture and why social media looks (and feels) so authentic at times while - at the same time - creating a toxic dependency. The book is a bit like Big Little Lies.

Bonus: it's set in the UK. So you may find yourself looking up terms mid-read. I discovered patients given "squash" in an emergency room are, in fact, not being handed a veggie to munch on, haha.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infertility

bugaboobear's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

Absolutely fantastic mystery. I loved the complex characters and the multiple POV's were perfect for showing how we bullshit and rationalize to ourselves. 

This is very much a book for people who enjoy morally grey characters. If your main character has to be a good guy for you to enjoy it, give it a pass. 

I also really loved seeing the complex workings of what running an Instagram account for a living is actually like. It seemed very realistic to me and I found it super interesting. 

It had a fantastic ending but the last couple pages watered it down a bit in my opinion. I also thought that one particular scene went on excessively long.

The scene in which the baby is found dead was really drawn out.

Overall, a fantastic book and I can't wait to pick up the next one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Miscarriage, Excrement, Abortion, and Gaslighting

mysterymom40's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

ju_harue's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

2.5

O thriller em si, não curti tanto, tinha potencial mas não me pegou tanto, acho que não foi tão bem trabalhado quanto almejou ser em algumas formas dos desenrolar dos fatos.
Porém as discussões sobre redes sociais, os impactos que os influenciadores podem exercer nas vidas dos seguidores, a exposição, o que é verdade e o que acaba sendo o trabalho; isso achei bem colocado, a um ponto de questionar sobre o que consumimos meio automaticamente, como refletem em nós e o que iremos expor. A construção dos personagens achei um tanto quanto confusa, me pareceu querer abordar vários tópicos e características que algumas vezes se divergiam em outras atitudes dos mesmos, fiquei com a impressão que queria abraçar muitas coisas e nao tinha necessidade de tanto.
Em resumo, não foi um livro incrível pra mim, mas também não foi horrível. Tem vários gatilhos que deixarei listados no Storygraph para quem tiver sensibilidade (e que podem ser spoilers).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

haleysversion's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

modernthymes's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I would have given this book a higher rating if not for the ending.

Dan whining about Emmy's job during the whole book (while being financially useless himself) only to have a complete 180 after he's able to take over the account and capitalize on it himself. What a scrub.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

kernowme's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

martamae77's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide

kels24's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic friendship and Alcohol

kimveach's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed learning about being a mega-Instagrammer, as well as the differences between what we like in the USA vs. the UK.  The ending was super creepy but worked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement and Abortion