Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3 reviews

daniellekat's review

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

3.5

The perfect vacation/beach read. This was fast paced and easy to follow. I love SMG’s writing and the way she dances through genres. Not my favourite of her books but a quick, captivating read nonetheless. 
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morgangd's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious relaxing sad tense 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

4.0

This is a movie, she thought. It’s not the movie I started watching but it’s the movie that it’s become.

I need this as a black-and-white noir film, with its slow-burning plot, shift from beach romance to murder thriller, its narrator shifting her own perspectives ... Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing is always sumptuous and that matches this aesthetic so well for this dalliance with noir.
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saimab's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring 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

 I was almost sad to finish because I enjoyed it so much, the writing and the characters and the suspenseful atmosphere of it being so wonderful to read. 

SMG has a way of writing women that is almost comforting. Our main character Viridiana in an 18-year-old woman who desperately wants off her little island, too intelligent to be spending her days watching sharks and waiting for tourists so that she can give them tours. She's both ambitious and directionless - wanting to travel and visit Mexico City, but unsure how she can ever escape this small town. I instantly loved her, her smarts and her awkwardness and her love to quote books and movies. 

When she is given the opportunity to be a personal assistant/translator for some tourists, she is eager but apprehensive. It spirals from there - the tourists aren't what they seem, and suddenly one of them is now dead. But she's enamoured by the charismatic Gregory and fascinated by the elusive Daisy, so when they both said that the death was an accident she has no choice but to go along with the plan. 

It's frustrating at times reading Viridiana be strung along by the foreigners, but at the same I can't blame her when I consider how magnetic and charismatic they must be to a small-town girl. That's not to say that Viridiana doesn't learn from them and their manipulative ways, and it's thrilling to see how she transforms from a naive girl to someone very aware of the power she holds. 

I couldn't help but feel bad for Lawrence at times. It's strange - I totally fell for what Daisy and Gregory said about Law being arrogant, but then you finally get to meet him and he's barely arrogant, just awkward and lonely but also very rich. I thought he and Viridiana were very sweet, so that's why I felt bad for him since Viridiana was so hopelessly in love with Gregory. But well, considering the ending, who knows what will happen to the pair of them.
 

All in all, yet another SMG book I adored. 
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