Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Família de mentirosos by E. Lockhart

33 reviews

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

3.0

“It’s better, I think, to move on. To look forward.”
“But—”
“We can’t change what’s in the newspaper, so why obsess about it? And we can’t change the past, so why dwell on it?”

- Tipper



Penny is so aaaahhy. I hate her.
Why does the author always needs to do this to me 😭
I know it's done on purpose, but damn how much I hate them all. 
I'm quoting: ‘Don’t kiss your sister’s boyfriend, because if you do, you’re a goddamned asshole.’
And Bess is an asshole too for being on Penny's side and not on Caroline's. 

Once again lovely writing style. Used to have mixed feelings about it in the first book, but now that it's already my second one, so I got used to it. And the whole metaphors with the grief and other emotions is (just like I said in the first book) very cool. 



Am I the only one who noticed that Pfeff was 18 and our protagonist, Carrie was only 17. I'm not sure how to feel about this 😀
Also the dude is such a 'weenie' just like someone else said it in the book.
Their whole relationship is just eh. 
I thought this toxic relationship is a one-time thing, does this author always writes about such stuff?? 🥲

I forgot to check the content warning. First time since a while and guess what? I got triggered. Please everyone don't be like me, read the content warnings for this book. 

Since my rating is based on enjoyment I would give it 2 stars due to it triggering me, but the story was interesting nevertheless and I think it deserves at least 3. 

28. July 2024

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

annamwallace66's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

kittkat's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Gutes, spannendes Buch. Es hat mich jetzt nicht so weggehauen wie der erste Teil, aber dafür fand ich die 1980er-Sommer-auf-einer-privaten-Insel-Vibes suuuper cool und spaßig 🏖️🍦⛵️🥐🧊🍓
Ich habe mich jetzt nicht mehr wirklich an den exakten Plot im ersten Buch erinnert, aber eigentlich konnte man diese Story auch so einwandfrei verstehen. 

Dadurch dass es ein Jugendbuch ist, war die Sprache relativ simpel und man kommt echt schnell durch das Buch. Ich glaube aber auch, dass mir genau deswegen, irgendwas gefehlt hat… aber I can‘t quite put my finger on it 🤔. Das Ende fand ich ziemlich hervorsehbar, weil man diese dunkle Wendung der Geschichte schon aus dem ersten Buch kennt, aber ich fand, dass das Leseerlebnis dadurch nicht gemindert wird :).

Also insgesamt, ein gutes Buch und perfekt für so stressige Tage vor den Klausuren, wenn man nichts Kompliziertes/ Langes lesen kann.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

tourmaline1703's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

We Were Liars is one of my favourite books of all time, so I was very excited to revisit this world in its prequel. Safe to say, I wasn't disappointed. I will say that the shock factor is less than We Were Liars so don't expect such a big twist but there are still twists and turns along the way. They're not necessarily predictable just shock you in a different way.

I love the summery setting of this novel, it's really made the nice weather today feel like the start of summer. Usually summery novels have this sense of perfection and happiness, but this novel uses the summery setting to create a false sense of security which I love!

It's unconventional but I love the way the novel is written and structured. The use of fairytales to reflect the protagonist's story is really interesting and of course, the whole premise is based on the fact she is an unreliable narrator, which is what adds to the twists. At times, some things felt like they were typos which did throw me off a bit but they could be part of the dialect.

I felt the plot was well paced and I liked the twists and turns. The mystery and romance blend creates a great set up for the storyline. The characters were interesting and I wanted to know their motives, their relationships and what happened next. None of these characters are particularly good people but they're interesting and flawed, making it a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, and Infidelity

viselik's review against another edition

3.0

I much preferred We Were Liars but this one was alright I guess. All of the like bits I loved in We Were Liars was not in this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

nagaakil's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Murder, and Abandonment

books_hay's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

_eleanorgreen8_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book - much more than We Were Liars. It was a good holiday read and incredibly absorbing, but also pretty dark and troubling. E Lockhart's writing so skilfully conjures emotions and a sense of place, and the use of description and listing is so satisfying. I felt totally involved in the narrator's world, as her thoughts and emotions were constantly being expressed and explained. The one thing I liked less about the book was the plot twist at the end - I felt it didn't make sense and wasn't really necessary, though i guess it did add another layer to the story. Overall, this book was gripping and thought provoking and I definitely would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Sexual harassment

stitchbooks22's review against another edition

slow-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

2.0

This was garbage, but still not the worst thing I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

Wow. Just WOW. I loved it much more than I thought. Maybe more than the 1st one. An eye for an eye. A son for a son.

  Carrie killed Pfeff, causing his mother and father to lose their first born. And years later, she suffered from the same fate. 

I didn’t expect the twist but I spoiled it for myself anyway, it was surprisingly not shocking. She did say she was a liar. Bro and Penny. Ugh, forcing herself to be straight. Wow. The book was heartbreaking, especially considering the people they become. Which isn’t too great, but it makes sense now why they are the way they are.

BRO THE DAD HELPED THEM COVER UP THE MURDER. HE TOOK THE BOARD. Ugh Carrie is also an unreliable narrator just like Candace was. Fuck bro.

And don’t get me started on Rosemary.

She saw her for 5 summers. Her baby sister that drowned.

Ugh. I wish penny could be out. I just want people to be happy in this book, but literally no one is ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism