Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce

5 reviews

baearles's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

mmoran22's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Infertility and Alcohol

kodi_rae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

Somehow fun and empathetic while also being gristly and tragic - it’s a worthwhile novel for true crime fans although I was disappointed to learn that a lot of the facts remain unknown. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

ekmoore11's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Miscarriage and Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy

smblanc1793's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Serial killer fanfiction—a fun concept, but while well researched, this story adds so much fiction to the mix that I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to just make it into its own story. The quasi-biographical element of this book is part of what drew me to it, and I was a little disappointed with how much was just made up.

The story itself, though, is well thought out.  Belle as a character is surprisingly complex and well written—impressive considering how hard it is to make a murderous sociopath come across as any kind of sympathetic. 

Nellie as a character, on the other hand, felt like a crutch to me—a safety net in case people found it difficult to relate to our pernicious protagonist. But if you’re going to write about a serial killer, I say go all in. (If you’re looking for gentle, benevolent characters to fall in love with, maybe don’t pick up books about serial killers). The sections narrated by Nellie are, in my opinion, what renders the pacing less than superb and the book much longer than it needs to be. Though still a well developed character providing a different perspective, she took away from the overall impact of the book for me. 

All in all though, a pretty good story for true (and untrue) crime fans. It’s always good to see strong, independent women recognized within the boys club that is serial murder. #feminism, amiright?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol