Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

19 reviews

maikelenz's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

I saw a lot of potential here regarding the setting, the split between the present and past, and Hannah's memory loss. However, I was very disappointed. The pacing was incredibly slow, April was so nasty in the flashbacks that it took a lot of suspension of disbelief that she even had a friendship group - let alone a best friend - and the protagonist was so stupid that it was at times painful to get through the book (the sentence "She has been so, so stupid" also appears multiple times in the book). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

bbbeth's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and Pregnancy

tiamaria3's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use and Gun violence

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

Quick question— who WASN’T April fucking? Like, good for her but every time a name got added to the list I couldn’t help but wonder when she had the time. She must have had impeccable scheduling skills.

ANYWAYSSS

It’s entirely possible that I just don’t like Ruth Ware’s writing. This book’s friend group sucked ass (not a moral in sight betwixt them) and not one of them had any reasonable consequences for their actions. I don’t understand the heavily understated obsession with practical jokes or why no one just mollywopped April one good time. There were a lot of red herrings but the ultimate twist was boring and unsurprising.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Alcohol

em_gauts's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

growintogardens's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Too much pregnancy, not enough mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

littlealderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

mal_reads_books's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

I enjoyed the Oxford parts and last few chapters, but the story was at least 100 pages too long. The middle was a drag to read.

Hannah was irritating yet bland. Her constantly ruminating thoughts about April, the murder suspects, and the baby clogged up the narrative. I felt the author chose to make Hannah pregnant to add unnecessary drama (e.g. the high blood pressure scare and jeopardizing her baby's health while six months pregnant). It was tiring to constantly read about the baby kicking or Hannah feeling faint.

April was even worse. She was like a stereotypical popular mean girl from a high school movie. I hated how she treated everyone and how Hannah still worshipped her 10 years after her death, despite how cruel April was to her. I would've liked more backstory on April to understand her motivations better.

The other characters weren't likeable, or at least interesting, either.

I usually don't read thrillers, so the reveal at the end actually surprised me. (Ok, I did figure out the murderer toward the end, but not how it was done.) There were loose ends like the DNA not found in the murder scene that I would've liked to see resolved, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Pregnancy

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

madelinequinne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

SPOILERS 

Really enjoyed this, kind of reminded me of if we were villains. 

I would have NEVER guessed Hugh was April’s killer until those last few chapters, i was so sure it was going to be Will the whole time up until then, and I love a plot twist so automatically loved this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This is the first novel by Ruth Ware and I hate to say that I'm pretty disappointed.  It doesn't;t help that I read a book with this similar trope just a few days prior. I've been reading a lot of thrillers lately so the tropes have definitely been getting repetitive. This book was INCREDIBLY slow. She doesn't even agree to talk to the reporter until about 150-200 pages. I don't know how to describe my experience with this book. I didn't hate it (cuz if I did I wouldn't have finished it), but I didn't particularly like it either. I feel like it dragged when it didn't need to (especially the first 60-70 pages). The last 60 pages were very anxiety-inducing so I'll give her that. 

I don't think I'll classify this as a thriller because there wasn't anything "thrilling" anything about it. No bread crumbs to leave you guessing. It really just centered on Hannah's guilt that she could've potentially put an innocent man away. Speaking of him, I know she wrote him as this creepy guy to establish why Hannah felt the way that she felt about him, but even as I was reading his scenes I couldn't help but feel creeped out with her. He was a very odd bloke and his actions towards her were unsettling. Although his actions were creepy, I did see a comment that stated that John Neville's behavior was consistent with someone on the spectrum. I don't want to stigmatize so this is just a theory, but as I was reading about him and his mannerism I couldn't help but think the same thing. I don't think he meant much harm to Hannah. He may just not have understood her discomfort ( just a theory).  Also, that teacher is also disgusting. I know good and well he was sleeping with his students.

As for the portion of who did it, I honestly would've preferred if this specific character that they were pointing out for most of the book was the killer. 

Although predictable I wish it would've been Will that was the killer. They were alluding to it for a good portion of the second half of the book and I honestly think it would've made more sense. It being Hugh wasn't predictable, but his reasoning did add much impact in my opinion. It just felt like a twist that can out of nowhere. And what was the point of her finding out about that window shortcut if it was;t going to be an important element later? I feel like that was a waste of a potential plot point.

 

Also, can we just talk about how Hannah barely prioritized her child's health this entire book. 

The fact that her baby survived all that stress feels extremely unrealistic even by book standards. I was honestly expecting her to lose it in the end and have Will be the killer.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Grief, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Medical content