Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Família de mentirosos by E. Lockhart

34 reviews

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

kccool12255's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Though I was a bit apprehensive about Carrie being the star of our story, I believe that this prequel absolutely lives up to the original novel. Cadence has a very unique voice, easy to follow along with, and Carrie’s has much of that same tone. I enjoyed the boys in the story

(except for Pfeff, of course)

. I love the plot, and didn’t expect any of the plot twists that came. I DO think that Bess could’ve been included more,

and the whole Pfeff-Penny-r*pe storyline made me uncomfortable . And sorry, but I don’t think that Penny’s bi (if she stuffed it down, fine, but I just don’t think it fits up with her character, sorry)

. Ending could’ve been better. Overall though, an amazing experience. 

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the first book, and murder mysteries.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Vomit

corabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I think I actually enjoyed this book a little more than the first, at times. The random bits of poetry were a bit distracting and unnecessary (the writing was prose-like enough already), but E. Lockhart is an amazing author who wrote this mysterious, drama-infused, family-focused story in a gorgeous way. I loved how this book talked about family, and some of the moments between them all (especially towards the end) were absolutely adorable. Highly recommend if you enjoyed the first one or any books like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming and Murder

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

mororke's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kibberbl's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, and Antisemitism

meganwhitis's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcohol

lokes's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Classism

goldenhour_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

guivx5's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 When I reviewed
We Were Liars,
I said:
"I still have the sequel to read, and I hope it doesn't suck."
Well,
I'm glad to say it didn't!

Lockhart had a terribly doomed job here: to write a worthy new story based on the universe of a success she wrote almost ten years ago, a book that was so unique in it's style it would be hard to avenge. Thankfully, the task was accomplished, and now we have more lies to be shocked of.

I see Family of Liars as a great expansion of the first book's universe. The Sinclair family has a twisted charm to their tale that guaranteed my interest here, no matter what. You simply want to know more about them, it's undeniable. But then, what could she write? After the shocking story of Cadence and her friends, the broken family full of intrigue and ambition? We Were Liars was an ambitious story itself. I had to find out what's up with their past. Turns out, it wasn't pretty.

Now, let's talk about reading experience here. This book has less strength than it's older brother, simply because it doesn't benefit of the surprise factor. That was taken away by the first story, so it is an inevitable fragility. But I do think Lockhart handled well with this weakness, and soothed it as much as she could, which made the story still full of surprises. The characters, both old and new, were as intriguing as ever, and the plots involving the long-known family of liars were really good. I feel like the second third of the story could do with a bit more of clues and intrigue, but that's just me. Overall, the story is as well built as the first one in terms of consistency. But I do have a big caveat:

Rosemary

 

This could be just me playing with my frustrated expectations, but I do feel like Rosemary deserved a better plot. I mean, it's The Sinclair Family we are talking about, I don't believe she just died on an accident. Her presence could be more meaningful, specially revolving around her motives to visit Carrie. Even if she just died like that, even if this is really her only motive, to look out for her sister, I feel like this wasn't developed enough. It should be brought up more during the chapters. But sorry Lockhart, the only way to redeem yourself here is to write a third book, a prequel where we learn the origins of Harris and Tipper and how they were the real guilty ones behind Rosemary's death. You just have to do it, or I won't raise my rating on this book on my next reread.

Again, I think Lockhart gives us mystery and suspense done right. And this is a great expansion upon the first novel, maybe with a few hiccups towards the middle and in the need of a little more development here and there. It is, ultimately, worth reading if you liked the first book.

Now, how long do you guys think she'll take before deciding to write another prequel? I don't want to reread this too much before she releases it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

dancing_on_ur_muml0l's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Pfeff can stay at the bottom of the ocean and die idc

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, and Vomit

pfeff more like pfuck off