Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sean Connolly

13 reviews

laneelizabeth's review against another edition

dark fast-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

1.0

Why is this book so romanticized? Why do teachers and professors teach on it? Why was it popular enough to be made into a movie? Why do people throw parties with "Gatsby" as the theme? This book revolved around nothing but horrible, selfish people, who did nothing but cheat on each other and put each other down. No one cared about anybody else, they all just did what they wanted and no one cared enough to stop them. I will say that I am impressed by how much the author was able to fit into 110 pages. I was not a fan of any of the characters, they were all very two-dimensional and cheated on each other, or at least knew someone was cheating or being cheated on and said nothing about it. And also, the way that they talked to each other and about each other was horrible even though they pretended it wasn't. I hated this book and I'm glad it was a short read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Infidelity, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

carlycormier_'s review against another edition

fast-paced

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

5.0

“He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it... It faced-or seemed to face-the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”


During quarantine, I've taken up reading again and I am very glad that I have. I am, however, upset that it took me as long as it did to read this brilliant little book! I flew through it in a day I was so hooked. I was reluctant to pick this one up out of fear that I would envision or compare it to the film (which I saw ages ago). Fitzgerald's superb writing is a big reason why I was able to separate the two and enjoy this more.

It’s a story of false hope, ego, disillusionment, hypocrisy, the idealization of love from naive eyes, romanticizing the mundane, unreliable narration, and the collapse of a rose-colored bubble. Fitzgerald fills this story with poetic imagery that dances across the pages, pulling you in deeper and deeper.

To annotate the book in this review would not do it justice. Simply spectacular and way better than any movie could hope to be.

 It was as dazzling as you would expect it to be. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death, Car accident, Alcohol, Classism, and Murder

tifftastic87's review against another edition

reflective sad 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

1.5

I genuinely don't understand how this book is one of the "great American novels." Maybe there is something to take away about how wealth is a disease or that being a socialite doesn't mean you are liked, likeable, or capable of friendship. But there has got to be a better way to do that then to tell the story of wealthy people getting drunk, complaining, fighting and running around on their spouses. 

Nick, the narrator, reminds us so many times that hes one of the few honest men, that I fail to believe he is a reliable narrator at all. 

Gatsby, whom we know so little about until the end, is honestly a man who is so stuck on the past when he "fell in love" with an 18 year old barely legal Daisy that he spent his whole life accumulating wealth to get her attention. He throws wild parties just to hope she'll come. 

The women, Daisy and Jordan, are pretty much here for decoration and to be an object for the men to either fight over (Daisy) or be guided by (Jordan). The exception is Myrtle who is there to simply show you how horrible Tom is and for Nick to describe as fat and bossy. 

She carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can.

Tom is a racist, white supremacist piece of garbage who cheats on his wife, abuses his mistress and just talks trash about everyone. 

I disliked every single character in this book. I loathed every page. I am so glad I was never forced to read this in school. 

Only giving it some credit for the accuracy in which Fitzgerald describes drunk people and the way he sets scenes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Car accident, Classism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

gretchenplz's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I'm not counting this as a re-read because I'm not sure I consider my high school opinion as law, especially on literature. 

However, I just don't vibe with this book. It has an air of pretentiousness that I cannot get with, like the author is dangling a secret in front of us on a string like a "gotcha" or an "I know something you don't."

I do understand and appreciate both the significance of the book and the message this book sends, and I feel that modern society would be smart to remember it, but that isn't the case. If anything, they glorify the very issues that Fitzgerald so desperately tries to convey.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

saliwali's review against another edition

dark reflective relaxing sad 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Car accident

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Gun violence, and Racism

Minor: Violence, Misogyny, Classism, and War

agatha_hopkins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Alcohol

Minor: Stalking and Sexual content

saturnpersonified's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Classism

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Racism, Violence, Physical abuse, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

calamityin's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Classism, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Antisemitism, Grief, Addiction, and Incest

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-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

This was my first time reading "The Great Gatsby", but I did go to see the movie adaptation in theatres when it first came out, so I am not unfamiliar with this story. It is fun to read a classic that is set a little closer to the present day. 
"The Great Gatsby" follows a young man named Nick Carraway. Nick unknowingly moves into a modest house next to Jay Gatsby's mansion. Nick quickly befriends Gatsby and becomes one of his closest confidants. Nick also helps to reunite Gatsby and Daisy. Daisy is Nick's cousin, and she is married to another man, but she has a past with Gatsby that Gatsby has never gotten over. 
"The Great Gatsby" explores how someone can be seemingly adored in life, everyone trying to be close to the shining star and get a taste of "the good life" but when it comes down to it, they were not "real friends". Gatsby built his fortune mysteriously and has surrounded himself with people who seem to love him, but they seem to use him for their own notoriety more than anything. I loved seeing how Gatsby had an electric personality that brought him everything he wanted, except the one true thing that would make him happy. Gatsby is also a morally gray character; you want to root for him, but you also do not agree with his decisions. His complexity makes him intoxicating. 
This is a wonderfully written classic that is very approachable and easy to read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, War, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Antisemitism, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, and Body horror