Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

25 reviews

bri__'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!! Honestly, I was extremely intimidated by the size and overall vibe of this book but I was intrigued after the first chapter. The writing is phenomenal, the art is stunning and the characters felt like genuine people. There were many plot twists, actual laugh-out-loud moments and a very unique concept. I'm so impressed at how well done this was and I am incredibly interested in reading Painted Devils. I had to focus in the beginning to get used to the world-building and glossary words, but once I was 10% into it, I could not put it down. I refuse to hear any criticism on this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

Good, solid worldbuilding alongside character development. From the first page, you know exactly who the main character is and why she does the things she does. Sometimes heavy on the symbolism, but I cannot fault the pacing, the twists, the characters, the romance and friendships that seemingly blossom naturally. Nothing in this story feels forced. Poldi and Ragne honestly have my whole heard, and Barthl is on track to be up there as one of my favourites if he appears in the next book. It was genuinely such a delight to read, but it was also so genuinely heartbreaking at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

zannayo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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: Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming and Emotional abuse

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

4.5

A mother gives her 13th daughter to Death and Fortune rather than raise her. Instead of killing her Death and Fortune take the girl as their goddaughter and find her a place in a castle as a servant. She becomes close to the Princess of the castle eventually swapping places with her and stealing her place. She will do anything to survive and cares about no one because no one cares about her but eventually her past and lies will catch up to her.

I really enjoyed this story it's a very spooky and intricate tale of female rage. All the characters were very complex and interesting and I enjoyed the multiple deadlines rushing our characters to the end. However, I didn't really love the beginning. It wasn't until I was about halfway into the story that I was finally invested. I also didn't love the ending. It almost seemed like the author realized she backed herself into too much of a corner and just reversed it.  But I did like the little interludes that were told as tales before each section and I think the end section interlude is my favorite. I also like what she did at the end but not how we got there. The germanic words and culture were interesting but not well explained so I spent most of the book skipping over the words I didn't know since they weren't really explained. I loved the gods aspect and I love a good enemies to lovers and a good morally grey main character. I also loved the casual lgbt+ representation (including lesbians, gays, and a demi character!).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

aytac's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ashley_mrose530's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book. The minute I started listening to it, I knew I was going to love it. Vanja is a perfect main character. She has spice and grit and a hard backstory to make you feel bad for her and support her in all of her endeavors, including stealing. I thought the magic system was interesting too with the lower gods being a part of people's lives and even being the ones to run the court systems. And I loved the little romance side-plots for all of the characters. I thought it was also good rep for the LGBTQ community even if they were side characters. There were probably more queer characters than there were straight ones!
The only thing I'll say against it is that the plot with Gisele's fiancé got a little confusing (but that might be better if I had read a physical copy) and I wish Vanja had gotten a chance to speak to her godparents at the end to clear things up a little better because I don't think they would have actually considered her their slave if she had chosen? They seemed to genuinely love her and want the best for her and I wish they had gotten the chance to clear that up with her a little more at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Classism

librarybookfamily's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

3.5

Retelling of a classic tale from a new character’s perspective. Dark. Full of abuse and revenge. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Classism

r_a_bell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail