Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

18 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

SO much going on all at once, and not balanced very well. I think I would have liked the different narrative elements individually or if they had been melded more effectively (because a haunted house that is so both literally and as a deeper allegory for the lingering legacy of colonialism -- if that is the intention -- is conceptually great), but it just feels like it's trying to be several different things mashed haphazardly into one. Super overwritten as well, and yet at the same time basically everything that should be shown is told and vice versa.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, and War

Fungal/parasitic infection. Insects, insect death. Sleep paralysis.

megwilli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

kswartz's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

The themes explored in this book, such as family, generational trauma, colonialism, are interesting in the context of a hungry, haunted house. But the author's style was not to my taste. It seemed fussy and overly complex, very twisty without much payout. It was hard to focus and I found myself skimming without missing very much. Still, it was weird and gross and unique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

theoceanrose's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

aformeracceleratedreader's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Not my fave haunted house book but not bad. Things I liked - the setting, the exploration of complicated family, discussion of colonialism and the erasure (and trying to memorialize) of those who were colonized, the cover art . Things I didn't care for- jade as a character, all the freaking bugs (like I liked them as a horror element but I don't like bugs haha).
I would be willing to read more from this author even though I didn't love this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a pretty solid YA haunted house story. There are some really effective scares in here and I loved the Vietnamese setting, but sometimes feelings and character motivations got a bit lost in the flowery writing and the romance didn't really work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Gaslighting, and War

Bugs

amermanda's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Minor: Car accident

marleywrites's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

5.0

Jade was the perfect narrator for this haunting novel. She was angry, she was scared, she was smart. Jade was also a normal eighteen year old- a little cocky, a little blunt. I loved every second. 

I found learning about Vietnamese culture through this story really engaging. I like reading stories about taking down nasty colonizers so I was really enjoying that aspect of the novel. I especially liked that the book did not provide translation for everything said in Vietnamese. I liked that it wasn’t handed to me, I had to pause and go Google it. I didn’t mind that, for me, it worked. It was unapologetic.

Florence was such an interesting character. I liked her sass and her brains and her scheming. I liked that she saw Jade and wanted to know her right from the start. She weaseled her way in there and did not back down when things got hard. 

I found the pacing of this book to be moderately slow, but I think it worked for the story. It sort of goes from a warm water to a rolling boil at a pace where you don’t even realize you’re being pulled in. I liked that when the ending hit, you’re like, “how did we get here??”.

The wealthy couple, Alma and Tommy, were really frustrating characters by design. I enjoyed their role in this book. 

I wish we could have seen Halle on page. I would have liked to know more about that relationship for Jade. I also wish we could have seen more on page, in person interactions with Jade’s mom. But I did enjoy getting to see them interact on FaceTime!

Overall, I loved reading this story and I think the author did a really wonderful job with this book. The horror elements were gross and captivating at the same time, and I look forward to more from this author! We also love to see an author using they/them pronouns! 💛

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Vomit, and Car accident

There are descriptions of rotten food and lots of descriptions of bugs.