Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Um Pequeno Favor by Darcey Bell

11 reviews

em_daydreaming's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Incest, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Toxic relationship and Car accident

tayrod4594's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

The characters in this book, despite some rather impressive character writing, ultimately feel more like two-dimensional soap opera stereotypes than actual people. Aside from the love they have for the children - expressed not at all in the ways they choose to mess up their lives, but still evident in other ways - not one of these people has a single redeeming quality. At times it felt like unintentional satire, but it did keep me engaged - all the way to the last page when I struggled to resist the urge to throw the book out the window. All I can say is that if you come to the book because you liked the movie, you're better off just watching the movie again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

auri_underthing's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Secrets. Façade. Love.

The book started off strong, but at some point, around the half way mark, it just tapered off. The whole thing seemed quite pointless and anticlimactic. 

I kept on waiting for there to be a twist, a magnificent twist that would blow the whole thing out of the monotony. But it never happened and the ending just seemed repetitive.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

asofiarv's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Incest, Car accident, and Gaslighting

infjkiki's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, and Alcohol

coco78337's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Very middle of the road book. Didn’t really care about the characters or the twists. But a good “get your mind off things” book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Incest, Infertility, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kelly_e's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

Title: A Simple Favor
Author: Darcey Bell
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 1.5
Pub Date: August 28, 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Twisty • Disappointing • Superficial

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Emily and Stephanie are best friends. A Simple Favor kicks off when Emily asks Stephanie for a simple favour... pick up her son from school. But then, Emily disappears and no one know where she's gone. Of course, Stephanie knows something must be terribly wrong.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I'll start out by saying that I absolutely loved the concept of including blog style writing with a dual perspective narrative, as it allowed to contrast social media with real life. Unfortunately, the execution was poor and the good ended with that concept.

Yes, the story started out quite creepy, but it ended up being so unbelievable and corny that it was comical. The characters are all so unlikeable and unrelatable. The voice felt childish and not at all how adults would converse with one another. And to make matters worse the plot was so slow at times, that I'm not sure how I even ended up finishing.

I haven't seen the movie, but can definitely understand why people say this is the rare case where the movie is better. Do yourself a favour and skip this one. There are definitely thrillers out there focusing on female friendship and domestic drama that are more worth your time.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• no one

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"But if there were some version of luminol, the stuff they use to find blood at crime scenes, to detect the presence of grief, half the people we pass on the street would light up like Christmas trees." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide, Grief, and Murder

death of partner

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I first saw the movie a few years back and enjoyed the movie a lot so I knew what would happen in the book. The movie is near exact to the book so I would skip the book and just watch the movie. Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, and Henry Golding were perfect casting for the three main characters. The book can be slow in parts. Overall still enjoyable enough to keep reading but not enjoyable enough for me to recommend going out of your way to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

shortstackkat's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Abandonment

blubird's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Incest and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt