Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

38 reviews

anjh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i had high hopes for this book considering how popular it is. it was really good, the writing is incredibly poetic and i think that’s part of what makes it so good. 

i’m not usually that into fantasy and dystopian books but this wasn’t bad, i did enjoy the magical element and didn’t find the world too confusing which i often do. 

i was kind of surprised how much smut was in this lol. as someone who is generally incredibly bored by smut and romance n such i kind of skimmed over it or skipped it but if you are into smutty stuff i def recommend it lol. 

but omg the writing. the crossing out of sentences really added to the poetic style - i loved it. i think the main highlight of this book was the writing style. it was just beautiful 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

my3bb8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Shatter me is the perfect book, it is so amazing and every single twist

except Adam and Juliet dating

I didn’t see coming.

The writing style of the lines scratched out was such an amazing touch and helped me understand Juliet’s crazy mind in such an easy but also interesting way

 

The romance in this book was also SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, I can’t think of any better way it could have been written. It was absolutely amazing.

I would recommend this book so anyone who loves dystopian books and also romance novels. Such an amazing read and a great opener to the series! 
5/5 stars 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

spicycronereads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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? No

3.25

This was an entertaining read. The story of Juliette Farrars, a girl who cannot be touched because her touch is lethal. The book opens with her institutionalized and unfolds as she meets Adam, a figure from her past. In this dystopic future, everyone wants something from Juliette. And wants to use her for their own ends. Except Adam, who sees her for who she really is.

The writing takes some getting used to as there is an interesting narrative convention where a lot of text is crossed out. It kind of seems like you’re reading her notebook, but not all the time. Sometimes it just seems like her thought process is impacted by all of the trauma she’s been through. The characters are sweet together, even if the Insta love is not my favorite thing. This is a YA book so, as to be expected, it’s not really spicy. There’s a little bit of kissing and lots of swooniness. 💖💖💖

Going in, I knew it was the first in a rather long series. So I wasn’t really surprised when it ended at a point where things were just getting started. In fact, the digital copy of the book includes a novella about one of the other characters and the actual book itself is only 75% of the kindle file.

Interestingly, you get really far into the book before Juliette is ever described. There’s a compelling narrative reason for this, but the descriptions of other characters are also pretty thin. So from a diversity perspective, there’s lots of wiggle room for you to impose your own vision. But for readers who default to imagining white characters it means this will end up not seeming very diverse. There’s one person who has a clearly Japanese name and another person with dreadlocks, but whose skin tone is never described. 

Overall, the book kept me entertained. I will likely read the next one in the series but I don’t feel compelled to rush out and download it right away. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 💖💖💖

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

nellzzzz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

ravensalwaysreading's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This is the most insert-yourself-as-the mc fantasy I've finished in a long time. All I could think the entire time was "this is Red Queen if you strip the good writing, thorough characters, the actual plot and make the mc a skeletal, starving, wetblanket brunette every single boy she comes in contact with is unfathomably enraptured by". Maybe it really amps up later in the series. Maybe she gets a personality later. I might try to slog through and see after I look up more reviews.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

xgabrielle_hx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Torture, and Gaslighting

yzer2468's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness, Blood, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

emis_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It’s written a little confusing in the beginning, but it’s reflecting the main characters condition. Just pull through it, it get’s better.
I was able to read it very fast, there were often a few repetitions.
I really wanted to know why so many people love Aaron Warner that much, until now i honestly can’t really understand it. Just sometimes slightly.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Torture, Blood, and Gaslighting

neliadiedenise's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail