Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Șoaptele by Ashley Audrain

34 reviews

ariana3's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

This book was way better than I expected! I read it really quickly and enjoyed it more than I anticipated. When you think about it, the plot isn't very deep or complex, but the way the author tells the stories about these families in the neighborhood just sucked me in. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the moms/neighbors.
Plot summary:
Four families live on this one street - 3 are friends and one is an OG outcast house that others are waiting to tear down and buy the land to build a new house. One family has the aesthetically pleasing wife with a powerhouse job, but she's a terrible mother with anger problems. This wife, Whitney's, best friend across the street is Blair. Blair is the perfect wife, turning a blind eye to her husband's obviously wandering eyes, and perfect mother to their daughter. Whitney and Blair envy each other, but Blair is unaware of Whitney's envy of Blair being the perfect mother. The 3rd family - Rebecca lives in the neighborhood, picture-perfect marriage and intense job of ER doctor. She desperately wants kids but has had 5 miscarriages. Whitney's oldest son and most challenging (to her) child falls from his 3rd story window. The book delves into what may have happened. In a nutshell- Blair thinks her husband is having an affair with Whitney. He's not, but he is a cheater that she just stays ignorant to. Whitney is a huge cheater, just to feel like she isn't trapped in her life of being a mom when she doesn't want to be. So a twist is that she isn't having an affair with Blair's husband, but with Rebecca's husband!!!! The supposedly sweet, kind, doting, affectionate husband! Whitney's son saw them having some wild sex on the patio one night, he yelled out for them to stop, and he fell out of his window. Whitney and her son had an argument that night so everyone, including her husband, thought that Whitney had pushed him because she can have explosive angry moments. In the Epilogue, her son is awake and fine and alive. She's desperate to show him she's still around and she didn't leave like she threatened before he fell out the window. He agrees to talk, it's a super tender moment. Bringing the book to a happy ending. Then basically the last line is the son saying "what will happen to you when I tell everyone what you did." 🎤⬇️ If I was a mom I feel like this would break my heart. But since I'm not, this feels perfectly calculated, cruel as only kids could be, and definitely not what i expected!!!!!!!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

erikagibson126's review against another edition

Go to review page

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readliketay's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

spaghettireads's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was both a good mystery and an excellent look at motherhood through the eyes of four different mothers.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

angelakay's review against another edition

Go to review page

  • 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

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mamaofperfectpayton's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nreyno's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

stabby1's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

This book was very well written. That being said, the chatacters were horrid people! This one is sleeping with that one’s husband, this one tried to kill her kid, this one is cheating on his wife, this one hates her husband… a group or horrible miserable people! But it was like watching a reality show and I couldn’t stop lol. Some of the things she wrote about made me wrinkle my nose in distaste, and think who does that?! Crazy people! But that’s what makes this so well written is that my imagination couldn’t have even come up with this stuff. I didn’t connect with or really like any of the characters but this book was a memorable one. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-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

Oof. This was startling in its bluntness, Audrain daring to say what I think so many mothers/wives/women fear to state aloud. Admittedly. I lost interest in viewing it as a thriller so much as a character study in the domestic sphere. To view the last sentence in that vein is chilling (!).
Expand filter menu Content Warnings