Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

13 reviews

lindseylosers's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Outing

luverbyrd's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Unfortunately I was able to easily guess the major twist of this book. I did still get a small surprise with the minor twist but overall a little disappointed by the end of the book. I feel like a lot of my disappointment involves minor or major spoilers so I'm not going to say much. I felt the characters were a little flat or misrepresented, the major things that make this book "spooky" were kinda shrugged off, and I didn't like that the ending still felt like nothing happened or changed much.
Despite my disappointment I did still enjoy the read, otherwise this would have promptly been DNFd but I just wasn't fully satisfied.
Maybe I will like past books by this author more because I did like the flow of the writing.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic relationship

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit, and Car accident

booksnbrooches's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

3.0

I greatly enjoyed the opening of this book. It had ghost girls, religious fervor, and a creepy setting, what more did I need? Unfortunately, I found the main story less than appealing. I was hoping for more of the supernatural side of things, and that isn’t what happened. Maybe my own expectations let me down. 

Still, it was a fast paced thriller. I loved the writing style and would be willing to read more of the author’s work in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Pedophilia, Torture, Murder, and Pregnancy

singalana's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

mysterymom40's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

graphic scenes, even with teen characters; lots of cursing and what could be read as blasphemy to some; biblical interpretation and views shared by religious persons; ghost-like appearances

archaicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.5

I really enjoyed Tudor’s other novel The Chalk Man, and while Burning Girls did have its moments, overall it just wasn’t phenomenal for me. 

Jack and her daughter are moved to a small town to be the new vicar. Once they arrive strange dolls, strange people, and strange bodies start to appear and soon Jack and her daughter Flo find themselves immersed in the towns’ secrets. 

In my opinion there was WAY too much going on in this book for it to end well. You had burning ghosts, martyrs, rich people with influence over a small town, Jack had a dark past and secrets, her daughter had secrets, the church had secrets, the townspeople had secrets, and the initial set up for the town to be entirely in on the disappearances and strange deaths in the town never came to fruition. 

Instead the last half of the book revealed a twist that just felt unexplained and random to me. I loved the first half of the book but the second half was so hard for me to get through and the ending just sucked. There was too many plot points introduced and twists thrown in that you could tell that beat the end the author was just trying to make sure she addressed them all. 

I look forward to reading more books by this author but I’d say pick up Chalk Man over this one. 2.5 stars, just wasn’t enough to reach that full 3! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

celia_hf's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Murder

dorianlecter's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

powellki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Death of parent