Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

29 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.75

I thought this was fine. I did enjoy the twists and turns that this story took.

And thank god that Ava divorced her husband. Cutting off her credit card while she is abroad is financial abuse.

It was probably clearer in the book version, but I had a little trouble in the audiobook when the POV shifted. And I'm not sure if I was supposed to understand that

Ava was an unreliable narrator? I guess so, since she was talking to police. I think that wasn't the most clear because we couldn't be sure that Winnie was telling the truth either. And it wasn't about like one single thing, but details about several things.

Also, I thought the whole slowly circling around the issue of the SATs was a little dragged out. They talked about it so much in the book that I kept thinking that I missed what actually occurred. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Kirsten Chen’s Counterfeit, while ultimately forgettable, proves an enjoyable read with unreliable, unlikeable characters and well-done narration by Catherine Ho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

ksilvio's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Toxic friendship

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Terminal illness and Death of parent

Minor: Medical content

hmwoodward's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a very quick listen on audio with a solid narrator.

The story starts with a conversation that you quickly learn is the main character speaking to a detective about a counterfeit scheme gone wrong. So, you know it ends with her giving details to the authorities and don't know how it got to that point.

The book wasn't predictable and it does a great job of closing out loose ends. However, I think the last part moved way too fast - especially the last 10%. 

Overall, it was a solid read but nothing spectacular that I feel the need to recommend it to others. You will be entertained the whole time you read it though! Great book for anyone who loves "women's wrongs" and "girl boss" types of stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

kyriannaj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Part One of the book was a bit hard to get through, but as soon as Part Two started I was hooked. Ava and Winnie are incredibly complicated characters, and figuring out the truth of their story after finishing the book will have me thinking about it for days. It left me with questions and since I read this for a book club, the conversations we had about it were amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

bones_jackson's review against another edition

emotional 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

1.0

Nossa que livro horrível, a história é muito sem graça, a personagem principal é uma péssima esposa e mãe. A estrutura do livro é horrível, não tem aspas nem travessão e tem que dar graças se a autora pula parágrafos pras falas, coisa ruim. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

matcha_pages's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Started off with a bang, but much like a counterfeit purse it didn't hold up toward the end. It was an easy read yet didn't deliver like I hoped it would. Even though Ava and Winnie are unreliable narrators and unlikeable characters, they're the portrait of modern scam artist. They ruthlessly used Asian/Asian American stereotypes to their advantage and weren't afraid to use people to get ahead.

I wanted more scam artist and less angry mother. I get that motherhood plays a big part in Ava's life, but the book leaned toward that side too much for my preference. There's a lot of telling not showing, which I think is due to the POV choice. The ending felt rushed and I think it was it a miss to not mention the scale of their operation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Xenophobia

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Xenophobia