Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

30 reviews

efortier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

2.75

The one line reviews make it seem like it’s going to be this gritty juicy horror book, but aside from very detailed gore and body horror / injury descriptions the plot wasn’t actually scary. I think the author tried to make it a psychological thriller but made the MC so uniquely and extravagantly insane that you could see right through to the end. The world building was meh, the prose wasn’t distracting. It’s like a less vibrant version of a fan fiction mash up of 2001, Firefly and Levithan Wakes. It did them all a disservice. That’s said, not my worst read this year 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

hellavaral's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

cait's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

crownoflaurel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

rachelann88's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Super spooky and the ending/resolution was satisfying. Lots of horror books fall off for me in the middle or end, this one powered through to the last chapter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Gaslighting

readingwithsierra's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This was the creepy eerie space book I needed. Even though there wasn’t a lot happening, I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of this book. I enjoyed the dynamic between the team members and the perfect tension the author created between them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gaslighting

xdawnsii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I think this book had huge potential. I love space and I love spooky, so the premise of this book was super appealing to me. It had early 2000’s haunted house movie vibes, but in space. I thought the first half of the book was excellent, and this book could have easily been a 4 or even 5 star for me if it continued with the energy it started with. The second half was hugely disappointing, unfortunately. I felt that all of the suspense and tension the first half built up so well was just completely lost once the climax of the story happened. 


Some context containing light spoilers:

A handful of times, I caught myself thinking about how much I just didn’t like the main character. She felt very one-dimensional. I was also pretty disappointed that the most interesting aspect of the book -the mystery and tension of what happened to the crew and all of the buildup to it- was never described (happened ‘off page’) and explained by “I was passed out and don’t remember”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book wasn't for me and that's okay. I highly recommend checking out the content warnings before embarking on this book as it has the potential to be triggers ahoy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

 “Somehow I suspect that “third time’s a charm” does not apply to narrow escapes from death.” 

➽ Dead Silence reminded me that I should check out more Sci-Fi Horror, as it works for me so well! The story follows Claire Kovalik and her beacon repair crew who are on their last mission before being made obsolete. Claire's ship might be tiny and old, but she's proud of it and has complicated feelings about having to quit her job. When they pick up a distress signal from the Aurora, a luxury space-liner that went missing decades ago, Claire decides to put off retirement and investigate the wreck. I loved the setting and premise, it definitely feels like Titanic in space with a dash of Horror. I immediately wanted to know more about the Aurora and the more the crew investigated the ship, the more questions came up. Why did the ship disappear? What happened to the passengers? The crew hopes to make some money with the salvage of the ship, but it has other things in store for them! The story itself is so creepy and the Horror was definitely chilling!

➽ Claire's a complicated protagonist and I loved her! The story is told in two timelines, the present when Claire is locked up in a mental facility and the past which follows the crew's exploration of the Aurora. I loved the suspense, as we're left to figure out what happened to everyone and why Claire's the only one who made it back. The corporates are investigating her, so she's forced to relive what happened on the Aurora and figure out why it leaves her with such an ominous feeling. Claire struggles with her memory and mental health, so it's a very twisty story where you can't trust your perception. Claire's got a dark past that ties into her struggles and her seeing things that shouldn't be there. I liked how her mental health and trauma were explored! I was invested in her story from start to finish. The only complaint I have is that the past chapters left off so abruptly. I wanted the exploration of the Aurora to last longer!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic