Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

5 reviews

aingealwroth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

A dark fairytale with a worthy ending, told in poem format. This tackles difficult issues and needs to be approached with mental health and safety in mind, but highly recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying and Medical content

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Oof. I'm going to need a beat to process this one. My initial response is: 👏👏👏 I'm so glad this book exists and I can see how it might work especially well for teenagers. But it's doing just a few too many things at once for my tastes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

A magical realism adventure that's also an allegory for depression. A few notes don't resonate with me, but overall, what a symphony.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying

Moderate: Mind control

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

I loved this just as much if not more than Me (Moth). I struggle with my mental health and felt this book so deeply, especially towards the end where I kept crying as I read. I needed this even with the author's note at the front stating that it could be triggering to the reader. Please read content/trigger warnings if you are someone who is/or has struggled with mental health. This can be a difficult and emotional read. 
The cover is stunning, the writing is beautiful, and I will definitely look out for whatever the author publishes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

ahaines's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

Great book! But I strongly suggest you read it with your eyes (ebook or physical copy) rather than listening on audio. There are a lot of formatting things (e.g., lists) that don't translate well to audio. Very short and easy to get through, but worth the read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting