Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

44 reviews

cmbohn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Amaya will do anything to stop the wedding of her ex boyfriend and her former best friend. Anything. 

This was so much fun.  Lots of twists. It's partly told in interviews and partly in flashbacks. Perfect holiday read. I raced through it in a day.

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jstilts's review

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is a bit of a trick, and it's - only just - won me over. The first 70% of the book follows one character trying to ruin the wedding of her ex-best friend to her ex-boyfriend. It's a fun fast-paced affair with a kooky character that drags you along deliciously because it's pretty clear she has serial-killer tendencies and this gloriously silly thriller is going to ramp up and up into some glorious crescendo of camp drama. The plot is interspersed with flash-forward interviews of the suspects of a slowly-revealed crime, which sounds cliche but is very neatly done.

Then in the last 30% the book changes gears and viewpoint, and becomes rather serious, revealing the main chunk of the book to have been - not exactly wr tten by an unreliable narrator so much as a cunning author determined to see an illusion through. At first this rather sucks all the fun out of the book. Then it becomes VERY serious indeed, and somehow I'm invested in this new style. It ends satisfyingly, and then in an epilogue of sorts there is a rather nice little extra twist, and I find myself living it again.

In the end I have to say well done to the author, but I still want to read that unwritten other version of the book where it goes to where it looks like it is going for the vast majority of the book!

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hookerkitty's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Ugh, it’s so disappointing when a book you’re totally vibing with just gets ruined by the ending. I was absolutely loving all of the dark humor and cracking up. I was getting really into it and had to know what was going on…and then the ending is rather abrupt, tries to wrap things up in a bow, but yet still leaves some holes, I thought it’d be a slower reveal, but nope. The author must’ve been close to a deadline, or they don’t know how to finish their book (or both). 

So now I feel like a deflated balloon. I was totally planning on giving this high stars and seek out more books by this author, but I’m afraid the ‘ending ruins the book’ would happen again. Such a bummer. 

FYI content warnings: self harm starts on page 6, mental illness practically from the beginning, and the DV descriptions def made me anxious 

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hmetwade's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

3.5


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anniepatt's review against another edition

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3.0


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michaelion's review against another edition

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

4.0

If "Now you ain't hear this from me..." was a book. If a telenovela was set in Sri Lanka. I'm sure they have a word for it. As always, rich people are evil. 

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laileanah's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was weird, full of unlikable rich characters and a wild ass ride!
This features DV, suggestions of IPV, self harm and other dark subject matters.

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muddymind's review against another edition

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

2.75

Read if: you want a whodunit with multiple povs, interested in Sri Lankan culture/representation, like unreliable/unlikable main characters, want a lighter mystery that doesn’t go too deep into some heavier themes, want to explore the complexities of female friendship.  

Don’t Read If: you want a fast paced story(this is more of a slow burn), you easily get confused with a large cast of characters, if you’re sensitive to self harm, if you find most mysteries predictable.

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beccasteinbach's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5


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readers_sea's review against another edition

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

4.0

I was living for the dramatics in this one!

Amaya finds herself getting invited to her ex-best friend (Kaavi) wedding and her ex-boyfriend in her hometown which she hasn't been back to in years. Once Amaya sees this, she is determined to make sure that this wedding never happens. 

I had no clue what to expect going into this one, but it was actually a lot of fun. I loved the gossip that is bound to happen and the higher-class drama. Amaya was actually a very interesting character to follow and the different interviews added another layer to the story.

In the end, I did have the reveals mostly figured out around the 70% mark, so that did affect my overall rating. But it was still a very entertaining read.

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