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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Animal by Lisa Taddeo

92 reviews

carojust's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the perfection I needed -- what "The Guest," "Fruit of the Dead," "My Year of Rest and Relaxation," "Eileen" and "Boy Parts" couldn't deliver, what "Rouge" came close to. 

The destructive pretty girl plot has been overdone and exhausted, insultingly predictable, but Lisa Taddeo shows that it can be thrilling, done with power, nuance and poignancy. The pacing of this book needs to be studied, it's art.

You start with the idea that this book is about a vile woman, and then you see it's really about vile men, and as you shakily come closer to the truth, you realize this has always been about mothers and daughters. This is a love story to women, to see our pain and our strength, to realize how much of our self-hatred is from women hatred, to understand that the minute we are born, we are bloody prey, we are subjugated and destroyed, and we are connected more than we know. 
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miss_creant's review against another edition

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

4.0

A depraved book, but interesting nonetheless. It is definitely a book that encompasses female rage and is quite gruesome in parts. It was well written and Lisa Taddeo certainly paints a vivid picture.
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liliki17's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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liltinylatke's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of the most phenomenal pieces of writing I’ve read in a while. I search endlessly for the perfect book, the perfect style of writing, and I found both in this novel. The story is deeply concerning and strange. Experiencing Joan’s life of pain and trauma alongside her felt arduous. I can see similarities between Lisa Taddeo and Ottessa Moshfegh — the way they write their flawed characters with such specific characteristics and thoughts that are absolutely bizarre to the reader but perfectly normal to the character. Their descriptions of people and the things around them are so specific and entirely unrelatable. This is a hard story to get through, and I can’t wait to read all of Taddeo’s work.
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ktwoolen's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I loved this story but as a mother I was so triggered and disturbed by so much of the dialog and imagery. Truly a heartbreaking read for me. A lot of reviews said it’s about how being in your 30s can make you want to kill- but to me it was about how parent trauma and send you on a spiral of self degradation, and how being treated like you’re disposable by everyone that’s ever come into your life can make you want to kill. 
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judyhagan's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad slow-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

Evocative, poignant, gut-punchingly heart-rending, harrowing: I was rapt until the end. I don't have words for how this gripped me and tore me apart. 
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awhitson's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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laedyred's review against another edition

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

5.0

This is one of the best novels on the effects of generational and sexual trauma I have ever read. This is not a story of redemption or hopeful new beginnings. Joan is an utterly real person, and we see the contradiction and pain living inside her without the fluff of a character built to be a turned-hero. The first half of the book is a stream of consciousness and can drag at times. However, a piece like this is not to entertain. Its goal is not to inform or enlighten. This is an expression of pain taken at face value. Those who have not experienced what Joan describes cannot fully grasp what this text does. Although feminism is a huge motif, the modern interpretation of the "girl boss" is nowhere seen. Joan's rage mimics the violence that builds through oppression and abuse, steering her to act out. She is not a hero, but she is also not an anti-hero. She is a person, she is a woman, she is an expression of those who know.
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pourquoipas's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 I don’t even know where to go from there. This book was a gut punch followed by a sucker punch and then a big hug. 
The beginning was a bit too slow. It’s difficult making a connection with the protagonist, but towards the end Taddeo is able to make the reader some sympathy towards her. 
At times I found myself wondering if I had missed a page. The transitions are fast, the details are painful and tormenting, and the emotions are deep and disturbing. 

Lots of triggers not for everyone. 
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alex_likesbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i loved and hated this book. It was SO slow and heavy in the beginning but when everything started unraveling i couldn’t put it down. It was super depraved (duh) and dark and disturbing. I do wish i read TWs before just to know what i was getting into, I went in blind. I did like the portrait of female rage portrayed and a lot of the points brought up about how women are viewed by society and by men. 
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