Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

15 reviews

gabrielastbr's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

k8lynn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

byrdy's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Read with caution if you are in a vulnerable emotional state or have recently experienced loss. This book looks like a rom-com from the cover but it is really about grief. I personally love McFarlane's ability to explore difficult subject matter and still have light-hearted moments.  If you like dramedies, this book is for you. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, and Car accident

Minor: Dementia and Toxic friendship

There is cheating mentioned if that is a trigger

suerte_encantada's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

sgrifgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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

I almost put this book down 8 chapters in because it was marketed so badly and the plot twist completely took me by surprise, and not in a good way. I’m glad I kept reading, because it ended up being a good book with lots of insight into all kinds of relationships: romantic, familial, friendships, and even with oneself. However, there are definitely things I would say people should know going in. 

In the back-of-the-book description, it mentions “in an instant, their lives are changed forever.” This is a sudden, tragic, and traumatic death of a loved one, and main character. A good portion of the book is spent describing, in vivid detail, the grief experienced by the narrator. The grief is very realistic and well written, and under different circumstances I probably would have appreciated the perspective. But I was expecting a fun, breezy romance, and this is quite serious content matter. As someone who recently experienced a similar unexpected loss, it was very hard for me to get through and I would have appreciated more of a warning. In my opinion, the book should have been marketed differently, or at the very least mentioned that grief is a main theme.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

katerina_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

mishaps's review against another edition

sad medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, and Toxic friendship

koplomps's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Infidelity

Minor: Car accident and Toxic friendship

theespressoedition's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

What an emotional roller coaster this book took me on! I was not anticipating it even a little bit and I honestly loved every heartbreaking minute of it.

I highly recommend going into this one with as little information as possible. That being said, I won't be sharing much in this review so as not to give anything away.

This book has a truly beautiful found family vibe to it that I absolutely loved. It was filled with complicated friendships that really brought something special to the story. While there was definitely romance in the book, it wasn't at the forefront of the plot. Shockingly, I appreciated that. I say "shockingly" because I'm someone who prefers a strong romance plot more often than not. But it made sense to keep it simple for the sake of this particular storyline.

I cried at least five times while I was reading, which isn't as typical for me. It was a pretty profound book overall with a lot of fantastic elements. Oh, and while it does handle more challenging topics, there is a cheerful ending.

Truly a fantastic novel. I'll admit that I wasn't the biggest fan ever of If I Never Met You, but after loving Just Last Night so much, I'm very much willing to continue reading her books!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

greys527's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse