Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Una corte de rosas y espinas by Sarah J. Maas

110 reviews

coffinqueen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Solid, expertly written book. Some issues with depictions of trauma.

New Adult Dark High Fantasy about a young woman who accidentally kills the friend of a fae lord while hunting. He forces her to come live in the fae world for the rest of her life. They become romantically involved and other faeries find out he's with a human. This enrages the jealous queen, who then tries to kill her and destroy his house by making him her slave. She even has another man she keeps for her own enjoyment already while terrorizing the entire kingdom and just slaughtering everyone who gets in her way. It's clear she enjoys toying with people and lashing out when she doesn't get what she wants. Things go from 0 to 300 quick.

ACOTAR has an initially slow start that really picks up in the middle. Full of action and a badass female protagonist who is also fragile emotionally and physically in comparison to the immortals around her. It's a little spooky and gritty. Lots of monsters and mystery. It's violent and dark and has a lot of great twists. Even the ending of this book is a twist in itself for the rest of the series. Book 1 is sort of: "What had happened was..." in a way that genuinely feels like immersing in a fairytale and then later seeing it has gone very very wrong. You get more and more of some great character building as it becomes less Disney and more reality, making it a really fun read.

Great intro to the series. Though a little flawed for the more serious themes it explores and how they are represented in book 1, (I feel they aren't remedied until

the start of

book 2) but they are mostly remedied by a large percentage when they are. That's a dangerous game when depicting a high fantasy that is realistically depicting so much trauma. There are a lot of themes which may offend or trigger but the characters just sort of live in it... So, read on! But just be aware this book may insinuate it is actually ignoring the important subjects it means to talk about... attention to them just comes in late.

You can tell that Maas is a smart writer who has seen many fairytales she was really fed up with. She takes every opportunity to bring in the rage she wishes those characters showed. And she is an expert writer who hides some really sweet details throughout her books. You may come out with an even better perspective and deeper appreciation on a second read because it does such a good job of upsetting the reader on the first read.

Definitely recommended. I just feel that an important part of the readership might fall off before the series really gets into what it's largely about, which was frustrating as a reader and as someone who can closely relate to some of those issues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Slavery

Discussions about abuse, neglect, etc are less prevalent in book 1 and more prevalent in book 2. For the worse in my opinion. Because it doesn't allow for discussion ABOUT the abuse and that it is abuse until this book has ended. The characters just live in the abuse in book 1 and not much is done about it or contextualized. It's very realistic and well-researched but the handling isn't very delicate to start. However, the abusive bits also aren't graphic and book 2 has more delicate handling and continued light mentioning coupled with a more serious discussion. Disappointing weakening of book 1 a bit. But hey... surviving trauma also teaches you that we can't expect perfection. The year was 2015. I'm glad it was talked about at all.

librarymaus's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

There's alot I'd like to say about this book, but I think I'm finally just finished with this awful book.. 

Feyre is horrible, and annoying (plus, is so good at gaslighting that she even does it to herself...) Rhysand is not great, and really possessive despite barely knowing Feyre for two seconds.. Lucien is good when he's not running away, and my boy Tamlin is the only reason I kept reading.. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting

highleyginger's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book could have been better, not in terms of plot, that I was fine with, but in terms of character actions, and the author desperately needing a GOOD editor.

If I have to read the phrase "lazy smile" again in this series, I'm likely to throw myself into the abyss. A thesaurus would be a very advantageous resource for this author and an editor willing to point out the gross overuse of certain phrases.

Outside of the complaints about unfortuately typical YA romantic toxic relationships, and lack of character diversity, it does have a feeling of being a reimagined Beauty & the Beast but in a Fae world to explain the magic. Unlike Beauty & the Beast, our main character has a stubborn streak that is spiteful to the point of self sabotage.

She does have character growth with her stubborness and her "oh woe is me" attitude does improve. She begins to take time to understand those around her, especially of her dysfunctional family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

liaantje's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

God I hate tamlin,  but the rest of this series is chefs kiss 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War

mbutler's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: War

2blueshoes's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

I struggled with this one. Interesting world building, and quite a few surprise plot twists that kept me guessing. However the heroine was frustratingly lacking in self reflection and reads very, very young. The “love” story feels more like Stockholm syndrome. There are also quite a few problematic consent moments. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Excrement, and Grief

Minor: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

a_familiar_place's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

krystalw's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

It’s worth the read to have context for the remainder of the books, but can be difficult to get through 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Grief, and Abandonment

catastrophiclyss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sam0ny's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I listened to the graphic audio on Spotify which is the only way I'll go through this series. The graphic audio is incredible. It's a full cast with music and sound effects. The only downside is I have no idea what chapter I'm on. It feels like an old-timey radio show but modern.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Gaslighting