Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Les Oiseaux du temps by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

8 reviews

kermities's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.75

A confusing poetic mess at times with one liners that sink unexpectedly deeper than you ever thought possible. Main issue is the same as many Sci do reads I've had which is that there is way too much tell and not enough show. The time wimey sciency spacey jargon is just annoying because it created confusion instead of painting a clear picture of the worlds we're dealing with. I think that was the point though as this book deals with time travel. The ending was the only moment I truly connected emotionally with the book. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and War

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Characters: 10/10
Relationships: 10/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 9.5/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot/Intrigue: 9.5/10
Internal Logic: 10/10
Entertainment: 10/10
Overall: 68/70, 5*

I love epistolary novels, quantum time travel plots, and messy star crossed sapphic romances, so I figured from the get that I'd be really into this. and I was! I especially loved the ways the characters spoke with one another across timelines, and gave context for themselves as individuals, within their respective collective experiences, and within their shared relationship over time(s). the writing about writing was also really fun! there are definitely moments that delve into disturbing themes and events, but for the most part I found the tone stayed hopeful in belief for better circumstances. 

it's definitely something I need to relisten to (I feel like I missed a lot in my first run thru due to the narrative bouncing around quite a lot), but I'm so excited to revisit it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Graphic: spiders

rhi_'s review against another edition

mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, and Blood

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

magickshop's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

3.0

An excellent story with beautiful prose that is perhaps a little too opaque at points — it’s often a little difficult to figure out what’s actually happening, and although this is likely by design, it does get in the way of grasping the emotional stakes the book is attempting to lay out. It is nonetheless enjoyable and often moving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Violence

atlantisblauw's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

0.5

Thank god, I reached the end. I have no idea how people can enjoy this utter drivel. No world-building, no character development, metaphors that make no sense. There's no explanation of how they travel through time, you don't know what the war is about. The characters don't even know each other, but they 'love each other'.

The authors are clearly trying to sound very deep by listing endless enumerations of imagery, repetition, contradictory statements and questions that aren't really all that deep. "She has won, yes, she has won. She is certain she has won. Hasn't she?" 

And of course, many inanimate objects verbing. "Vines live [...] Rain clouds threaten. Lightening blooms, and the battlefield goes monochrome. Thunder rolls."

The metaphors are hilariously awful. "branches clatter like locust wings" and "a sun that is an eye with a great hourglass pupil like a goat's". Have they ever seen a goat? How is its eye in any way like an hourglass? "The ends don't always resemble our means." What's the logic here? "The seal breaks as easy as a spine" - Yeah we all know spines snap like twigs, right? *roll-eyes*

The letters start out extremely childish. "Postscripts sure are fun", one of the main characters writes in a PPPS. Yeah, I also thought they were fun, when I was ten. Then at some point it turns into love letters from a 14 year old Gothic girl, with silly things like "I want you to cut me" or "The pain truly is excruciating. It's wonderful, really" and the romanticising of suicide.

The only thing I can appreciate is there are two nice plot twists. Maybe it could have been a nice book if it had been written by someone more skilled. I'm stunned that this mess of a book was awarded both a Hugo and a Nebula award.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: War

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Excrement

Not sure how exactly to trigger tag someone kissing their lover's childhood self but that part was weird and I didn't like it.

thevampiremars's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

2.5

If you like this book (and I know a lot of people really do), don’t take my disappointment as an indication that you’re wrong to feel the way you do. I’m glad you enjoyed it, but I just didn’t.

Red and Blue make purple, and this prose sure is purple. Every. Single. Sentence. Is trying so hard to be poetic and deep. Metaphors are great and all but this is just too saturated with them to make any real sense. The characters and their relationship didn't feel especially substantive to me. I like the combination of spirituality and science fiction and there’s some neat imagery here and there, but for the most part I found This Is How You Lose the Time War to be a confusing mess and nothing more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail