Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

65 reviews

honeymoonleo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Confinement, Gaslighting, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Homophobia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Deportation

tiredenglishteacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Heartbreaking, haunting, scathing assessment of the ways in which mothers and fathers are held to different standards. A story that will stay with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Suicide

heynonnynonnie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is such a heartbreaking book. I like sad books and man, this was sometimes hard to keep reading. But there's so many beautiful sentences and hidden nuance here that I couldn't leave the book alone for long. I kept switching between audiobook, hardcover, and ebook, and I kept leaving notes and thoughts all over the three formats because I kept finding things that hit so strongly. 

This book really took the concept of unsympathetic and white dystopians and fkn smashed it into the ground. It doesn't feel like there's distance when reading. It doesn't really feel like an abstraction or like everything is cloaked in layers of metaphor and symbolism. Felt like I was being crushed the whole time. Did I cry? Yup. Did I spend a lot of time thinking about how angry I got when people tried to question the non-white parts of my upbringing? Oh absolutely. 

I love this book as a metaphor for the harm that model minority mentality creates for the individual who follows it and the people it ostracizes. At first, I wasn't a big fan of the ending, but I found there was a lot of depth and satisfaction in it when I explored the model minority metaphor more fully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization

mktaylor15's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.5

This was very well written but a warning to any parent, this book will be upsetting and probably traumatic. I was very upset by the end 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Bullying, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment and Alcoholism

kathleenivy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Abandonment, Self harm, Classism, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

pjwanders's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Gaslighting, and Medical trauma

lesbianlis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

While I think this is a really good book there are some changes that I think could’ve made it a wee bit more compelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

daniellenelson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Racism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Vomit, Suicide, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

i think the premise and some of the commentary made were interesting, but it was just soooooo long to get through. it gets a bit stagnant in the middle section; i think at least 20 pages could've been easily cut and in general it could've been edited down to make the thesis more poignant and succinct. when i did get into a good reading rhythm, it was enjoyable, but because it is essentially several small snippets within each chapter, it feels like you're taking so much time to make minimal progress, which i think distracted me from the overall plot! but there are some good ideas in here, and it does make one reflect on what it means to be a proper parent particular with a childcare system like that of the US's constantly waiting to tear "bad" moms in particular down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Confinement, Abandonment, Infidelity, Classism, Death, and Forced institutionalization

afriendwithfiction's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Moderate: Medical content