Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

8 reviews

fraeyalise's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-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? No

4.75

What a nice, lighthearted book. I really love this. Sometimes it was a bit heavy handed and slow, but I really loved it. The characters were amazing, and the story unfolded very gently. I could see the twists coming but it did not dampen my enjoyment of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Abandonment

This is a book about an orphanage. What do you expect?

lizsurber's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Fatphobia, Grief, Bullying, Confinement, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization

abbiechron's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Seriously cannot recommend this book enough. The audiobook added lots of quirky character building with different voices. There were many smiles, heartaches, and times where I just sat laughing literally out loud. Fantastic comfort book with an undertone of mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Murder, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Gaslighting

sammirosewater's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Bullying, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness

kamiellen's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.0

"And what a party it was. There was food—so much so that Linus thought the table would collapse under the weight of it. There was roast and hot rolls and salad with cucumbers that crunched between their teeth. There was cake and pie and bowls of tart raspberries they could dip in cream.

And music! All kinds of music. There was a record player sitting on the counter, and the day the music died was bright and loud with Ritchie and Buddy and the Big Bopper singing from beyond. Lucy was in charge, and he never failed to disappoint.

They laughed on this day. Oh, how they laughed. Even though Linus thought his heart was breaking, he laughed until there were tears in his eyes, until he was sure his sides would split. As the sun began to set and the lanterns grew brighter, they laughed and laughed and laughed."
• • •

Spoiler

On paper, this book was right up my alley: gay romance, misfit children, magical beings, a home on the sea, a small town, outdoor adventures, cynicism becoming optimism, confronting discrimination, sticking it to the man... And the truth is, I liked it! Bit I didn't love it. It didn't blow me away. As heartwarming as it was, I felt that the world-building was lacking, some of the character development was lackluster, and the writing was littered with clichés—and that really reduced the impact of the story for me. Nevertheless, we love gay happy endings!

Spoiler

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Bullying, Colonisation, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

winters_night's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Panic attacks/disorders

ember_eyes_are_for_tigers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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

3.75

Whilst I really enjoyed the book, the author did fall into some harmful tropes. The author used the experiences and stories of indigenous people to write his story

Spoiler

for example some of creatures and the folklore, but, also residential schools

, without treating those elements with the appropriate care- sounding, at times, rather callous

Spoiler

for example the fact that the government and adults are scared of the magical children. Which has been incredibly harmful in history for the populations which the author has based his story upon

.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

wee_ramekin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse