Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen

156 reviews

katepruett's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

disgusting and disturbing and violent and engaging AND TRUE. the way that this book is written sucked me in so deep. the ending moved a little quick for how long I felt invested, but maybe that’s just how true crime is? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

n4yma's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishwhims's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

5.0

This was perhaps one of the darkest  and most disturbing books I have ever read. What made this book even harder to stomach is that this isn't a work of fiction.
 If you are going into this account of the heinous crimes of Shelly Knotech with the expectation of getting answers as to "why" a person does something like this or what turned her into a person who could do these things, you will be disappointed. The goal of this book is to tell the story of her victims and perhaps her longest-suffering victims, her daughters. This is the story of three sisters' horrific abuse at the hands of the person(s) meant to love and protect them most in the world. I'm not  leaving this book with all the answers I'd like nor am I leaving feeling as though justice was achieved, but that is true with most crimes. 
This book and this story, I fear, is going to stick with me for a very long time.

*Check tw*
*audiobook*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

stayceee24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

An awful story told exceedingly well. Not for the faint hearted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Gaslighting

abby_c_m's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

your_geekygf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

2.0

This book is a true story but it is unbelievable. It is graphic, sad and frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer and Rape

ashleyneidick's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

3.0

The stories told in this book are truly, absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel for the victims. But the way the book is written makes everything feel pieced together, which it is to an extent, but there are a ton of blanks that could have been filled in that weren’t - such as almost nothing written about the police and why they didn’t act sooner, and so much was left out of the trials. It was hard to get through and finish this book for more than one reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia

goosiana's review against another edition

dark tense

4.0

*3.5

It was good. I can't believe what this mother and father (if you can call them that) did. It had everything you would need to tell a story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty

paulr035's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, and Gaslighting

jessikkaha's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

It’s hard to give this book such a high rating for the difficult content it contained. But the retelling of this story and how it brought to light stories of abuse was very well written. Sending so much positive energy and peace to the girls. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail