I enjoyed this book!! It was quick and easy to read, I engaged with the characters and felt a lot of frustration and sadness on their behalf. I felt at times things dragged on with not a lot happening but it was all quite accurate to the teenage experience. There was one time jump which I thought was a bit much, as I'd have quite liked to read about what happened in the interim. Overall I enjoyed the book though.

I adore Natasha so had high hopes for this YA novel and I am thrilled to say she absolutely delivered in abundance. Such a smart, witty and pacy read that explores poignant topics in an engaging way with keenly observed characters and relatable relationships. Highly recommended!

An intriguing read, showing the toxic nature of friendships. This is a great YA read and I would recommend it.

"Toxic" by Natasha Devon is a gripping exploration of friendship, manipulation, and the complexities of mental health. The novel centers on Llewella, a young woman who becomes entangled in a toxic friendship with charismatic and controlling Aretha. Devon expertly delves into the dynamics of their relationship, revealing the subtle and overt ways toxicity can manifest.

The narrative is compelling and fast-paced, with well-drawn characters that evoke empathy and frustration. Devon's background as a mental health advocate shines through, providing a nuanced and realistic portrayal of psychological manipulation and its impacts.

Overall, "Toxic" is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant read that sheds light on the often-overlooked nuances of unhealthy relationships, making it a valuable addition to contemporary YA fiction.

Toxic was an interesting exploration of the dynamics between friends and how young adults can make many mistakes or end up in toxic friendships but these relationships don't work out in the long run. Llewella experiences this and endures emotional torment from Aretha who is very manipulative. Following the narrative of Llewella undergoing and navigating this negative influence in her life was interesting.

A really relatable and realistic portrayal of toxic friendship; so much so it’s pretty anxiety-inducing. Deals with lots of complex issues of race and privilege, friendship, mental health and eating disorders in a manageable and non-judgemental way.

Llewella Has good grades, a successful blog and is also part of a school theatre group. But when Aretha starts at her 6th form could this be the friendship that she has been craving?

Oh this book catapulted me back to secondary school and just how cruel that kids can be . . . Can you tell that I didn’t have the best high school experience? It really captured the essence of just how nasty girls especially can be and how you don’t always see it at the time. I had some quite heavy themes too but I felt like they were written about very well. I had great characters and a great plot and I’d definitely read more books by this author.

A Great quick and easy read filled with drama then this one is perfect for you!

The book is fast paced, kept me wanting to read more, finishing this in 1 day! The story covered so many different elements and aspects it kept me drawn in and hooked from the beginning.

It's such a good debut novel from Natasha, I can not wait to read more from her!.

This was a really well paced and well written story of toxic friendship and finding self-worth amidst the troubles that coming of age brings. Mental health is explored really well and handled sympathetically throughout.. I really felt for Loo, the protagonist, and rooted for her right from the start. At times I hated Aretha, the antagonist - so a job done well by the author I thought!

Oh how I remember how spiteful teenage girls could be at school and this book just brings it all back!
Llewella is a good girl. She's a school prefect, achieves great grades, has a successful blog - so why does she feel like the odd one out?
Enter the new student, Aretha, who is everything Llewella aspires to be; popular, glamorous, knowledgable,
Llewella is drawn to Aretha's energy, and is thrilled when they strike up a friendship. Llewella throws herself into it, determed to be the best friends ever!
It's not long, however, before Aretha begins to make big changes in Llewella's life, and not necessarily for the better. As Llewella's anxiety disorder begins to resurface, and she starts to questions some of her new best friend's choices, Llewella begins to wonder just how much she is prepared to give up in the name of friendship!
This story taps into the psyche of so many teenage girls who feel like 'the odd one out,'not realising that's how most of her peers feel. It's how we respond to those feelings that matters.
As the audience, the reader's begin to realise much sooner than Llewella, just how toxic and cohersive the 'friendship'/relationships is - but just how long will Llewella wait before she asserts herself and stands up for what she wants and believes in!

Toxic is a relatable read that many readers regardless of it's intended demographic. It's a book many will very easily connect with,

Found this a great fast read but it was so frustrating nasty teenage girls just push my buttons. Would definitely recommend for teens but definitely check trigger warnings first

I wish I’d had this to read when I was a teenager but I also related to it as an adult. A story about how easy it is for young people to be manipulated by others and embroiled in toxic relationships, losing part of themselves, their self confidence and self worth.
But it also shows the power of other good relationships if only you look for them. When young people are victims like this it is often hard to see a way out but it is there.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this book. I must admit I wasn’t sure about this book at first however i did end up really enjoying it. It is a great young adult novel dealing with challenges that a lot of teenagers will face but in a sensitive manner. I also love the representation within this book. Well worth the read

This was a pretty good read. Predictable in parts, but overall was well written. Some parts did bore me, but I feel that this was definitely written more towards a younger audience.

I found this book a little hard to get into initially: it did not capture my imagination and was quite simply written. However, I persevered and am so glad that I did. I am not the target audience, but my daughter is... and she will love this. The book feels 'real' and young and I was quite convinced by the setting and the characters.

Loo ('Llewella') does not fit in at school - she hasn't found her 'tribe'. When a new pupil arrives, Aretha, and immediately befriends Loo, she feels special and honoured. It is quickly apparent to the reader that Aretha's idea of friendship is not one which most parents would encourage for their child, but Loo has a complicated home life and no-one to guide her. I do wonder how today's teens would read this relationship as I suspect they will get sucked in just as Loo is.

In order to please Aretha (who only pleases herself!), Loo compromises some of her own beliefs and interests. This makes for uncomfortable reading at times: the photo shoot and trip to Wales particularly. Loo has been plagued by anxiety in the past, and Aretha brings this flooding back.

I would describe this as a coming of age story, because Loo really has to learn some truly painful lessons.

Toxic really affected me. A story of a supposed friendship, guilt, privilege, family, identity, standing up for yourself, mental health...a great and moving tale which broke my heart in so many ways.

Another fanatastic and modern book from one of the best publishers for YA at the moment.

I love a good teen drama that harks back to my own school days because I like to analyse the situations that I was in with the wisdom I’ve gained. Toxic friendships are something that so many teenage girls go through and I was excited to see how this book depicts them.

Llewella is a smart, ambitious theatre kid but she also has an anxiety problem and feels like she sticks out as a brown, fat girl in her largely white, skinny high school. When new girl Aretha arrives, Llewella thinks she might have finally found a best friend who can show her new ways of having fun. As they spend more time together, Aretha puts Llewella on a diet and drags her into a world of photoshoots and celebrity-filled parties. Llewella has never had a real friend before, so she’s determined to be the very best friend she can to Aretha, even if that means abandoning the things that used to make her happy. Because sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your friends, right?

I think many people, particularly plus-sized people and/or non-white people, have felt out of place at several points in their life and high school may be the first time that feeling occurred. Llewella wants nothing more than to just blend in and not be a target for bullies but her own body makes that impossible. I really love how the real Llewella knows that she doesn’t have to change to be accepted. As the toxic friendship developed, I kept willing her to get back to that because I knew it would be key to breaking free of the situation she’d found herself in.

Toxic people often have a lot of charisma, when you first meet them. There will be something that draws you in and you won’t be able to resist trying to get to know them. Their toxicity rarely shows itself straightaway. Although, it is described as a literal glow in this book which is perhaps a little unrealistic, I completely get what the author means!

As soon as Aretha started policing Llewella’s eating habits, very loud alarm bells started ringing in my head that wouldn’t stop. It’s interesting that Llewella describes it as ‘ridding my body of toxins’, while the biggest toxin of all is her new ‘friend’. I didn’t like Aretha from the beginning but behaviour like this only reinforced my intense dislike and I just wanted to show Llewella the reality of the situation, which she was completely blind to at this point. It could have ended much worse and that’s perhaps a warning that the book could have touched on a little more.

I thought that the way Llewella’s anxiety was portrayed was very accurate too. That feeling of not belonging in a normal conversation with people of your own age and own interests is so common for people with anxiety disorders. So many readers will be able to fully relate to Llewella in this and will no doubt be cheering her on to overcome that evil inner voice.

There is a part of the book where Llewella and Aretha go to Aberystwyth, which happens to be my favourite place in the UK. I can’t explain how excited I got reading about all these very specific shops and places in the town. Only someone who has been there and loved it would be able to describe it in such charming detail and it was such a buzz to be there with Llewella.

Toxic is a relatable story of an unhealthy female friendship. While this particular female friendship takes place between teenagers, the level of toxicity displayed in this book isn’t reserved for young girls. There will definitely be women of all ages, who will instantly think of someone who behaved like Aretha does towards Llewella. Mental health issues are handled sensitively while courage and self-acceptance triumphs, which was really lovely to read!

I wont try a YA book again as i simply feel im too old to read them now however this was a great book that depicted a toxic female friendship in an unflinching, realistic way. I think this would be beneficial to so many younger readers as it discusses extremely important and relevant topics such as race, privilege, mental health and body confidence.

I’ve grown out of YA in recent years - it has to be something special for me not to give up on it.
This, dear reader, is that something special. I can’t remember reading a YA book that has such a clear toxic friendship that our main character is not privy to or is blind to for most of the book. I felt so bad for Llewella, I saw many teenage girls I have known in her character and in Aretha’s cunningness. On top of that, we get some GREAT anxiety rep. It is done so well and really displays the despair in how a relapse in a mental health condition is like for someone who thought they were “cured” . I have had a number of people in my life who have acted to a point like Aretha and I didn’t quite realise until reading this that they were manipulating me to a point - not as toxic as this relationship, but I think it is great that teens will get to read situations like this vs the ‘worst case scenarios’ and controlling romantic relationships that are brought up in health classes and the like.

A must for any school library.