Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

14 reviews

missmarguerita's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

An incredible commentary on motherhood, failure, and what it means to be queer in a heterosexist society. The definition of a riveting piece of gossip literature.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sadig27's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

kaki4forks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

(3.25) What.the.fuck. I’m gonna need time to digest this but holy cow. None of these characters are good people. I feel for Samson. But I’m worried that Sammie was based on real people the author knows, which is terrifying. The most amazing part is that all of this felt too realistic, too plausible.

Update (4.5): I really like this but it's so visceral and triggering that I don't know if I could read it again. So much of the desperation of parenthood hits too close to home for me. The loneliness and isolation of being a stay-at-home-parent. the overstimulation. all of it.

This book wonderfully encapsulates how skewed our own perception of the world is. Arnett beautifully lays out Sammie's perspective as objective truth, only to chip away at it piece by piece until the reader is left wondering what is true and what is imagination.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, Grief, and Classism

knkoch's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Yikes! I found this extremely sinister and disturbing. It was quite different from other contemporary family dramas I’ve read. It’s also the first audiobook I’ve listened to in ages; the narration was great, but perhaps hearing a woman say out loud the dialogue and inner monologue of the main character made this especially chilling.

I suppose this felt like a very accurate portrayal of difficult people, and of selfish, irresponsible personalities. I can’t say I truly enjoyed the reckless ride, although it was certainly a gripping story. I wavered between empathy and distaste for the characters, similar to my discomfort with White Ivy. I’m curious to see if I can find any interviews where Kristen Arnett talks about her goals for this book. If you’re into very dark, twisted literary fiction, this one’s for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

Not trying to tick all the boxes, but this touches on quite a few difficult subjects.

jamie003's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism and Gaslighting

jes312's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, and Pregnancy

paigeno's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Kidnapping and Car accident

anxiousbookclub's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

alexiswiththefreckles's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I’m pretty sure I felt unsettled the entire time I read this book, which maybe was the goal? The unreliable narration intermixed with other character’s perspectives really had me thinking - what on earth is happening? - the entire time. I haven’t read a lot of books where I do not like the main narrator at all  but still enjoyed the book, so I take that as a testament to Arnett’s excellent writing and storytelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

angel_hardy's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol