Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Killman Creek by Rachel Caine

5 reviews

kdoucet83's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

clairebonney's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Boot the dog does not die but is injured by a man.

bmitch21's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

thexwalrus's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

my god, every chapter of this was a punch to the gut.

rachel caine somehow manages to write abuse and gaslighting so expertly while not making it overpowering to the point of needing to dnf. the characters i grew to love in stillhouse lake got additional layers of depth in killman creek, and while there are moments that made me want to scream because of mistakes that were made, none of them were ever out of character. the conflicts and struggles the main cast experience throughout the story are all so real.

connor's struggle with seeing his father as a monster while also wanting to believe he was innocent because they had good memories really resonated with me, and at times it felt a little too real. i had to take several breathers to remember that it was all just words on a page and that it wasn't my father causing the feelings. (they were short, minute-long breathers, though, because i needed to know what happened next and didn't want to wait to find out. seriously, i couldn't stop reading once i started.)

the ending is also beautiful and hopeful and the found family the proctors gathered is so strong. it's the perfect ending after 300-ish pages of tense, heavy plot.

tomorrow i'm going to work on the next book and i'm so excited to see what else rachel has in store.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

greatestheights's review

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Phewwww this was a rough one, and not an easy read (though I couldn't stop). It's a testament to the author that I pushed through one of my least favorite plot devices because I had to know what happened, and cared so much about the outcome. Excellent writing, pacing, characterization, and imagery (as horrifying as it was). 4.25 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse