Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Deep by Nick Cutter

18 reviews

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I liked this author’s writing and the first 100 pages were great. I read some other reviews before leaving mine because a lot of them resonated with how I feel. After the first 100 pages, I was wondering where this was going to go. I really hoped that it would all come together but the ending reminded me of the horrible ending to the show ‘The 100’. I thought this was a horror novel… not science fiction… so I was very disappointed. As I other people have said. The last 100 pages were very unnecessary. Could have left it to the reader’s imagination and I would have liked the book. I honestly don’t know if I’ll read another Nick Cutter book because this one really put me off. It had so much potential but it was wasted which made me frustrated. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

unlivinh's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book did a phenomenal job of instilling a sense of dread in the reader. I didn’t think it was possible for a book to make me feel claustrophobic, but The Deep did so. It was a great read and has a lot of potential for a reread. My only gripe is that female characters were not fully developed and did not get the same complexity and writing quality as the male characters.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror

Moderate: Fatphobia and Terminal illness

Minor: Eating disorder, Incest, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

the incest/child sexual abuse comes from a scene towards the end of the book when one of the characters remembers their mother’s abuse towards them. It is not explicit nor is it penetrative sex, the character’s mother forces him to hug her while she’s naked, and it is implied that she knows it makes him uncomfortable.

awebster121's review against another edition

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

c_h_arl_ie's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

stardustvein's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aparker89's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

A titillating journey into the Mariana Trench and the mind. Be prepared for the monsters in your closet to come put to visit as you dive deep into the realm of horror! A well written story that leaves much to the tortures of your imagination! 
Find yourself stuck in a loop of endless and increasingly terrifying nightmares with Luke who just wants to help save mankind... don't look to hard at the shadows, they might be looking back!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pandemic/Epidemic

trippyotter's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I'll admit my rating is based heavily upon what happened to LB, I'm so angry about what transpired and that an animal would be allowed to suffer in such a horrific way. 

Also, while reading the book, I felt it could have easily been 50-100 pages shorter, but come to find out all the excessive trips down memory road and the journey entries was actually critical to the ending. 

After several memory flashbacks, I was about ready to close the book when Luke was reading the journal. It just went on forever. Then what happened to LB angered me so much that I was basically emotionally numb (maybe that was the intent?) that I just finished the book. 

I'm not sure if I'd truly recommend this to anyone, but if you decide to take the plug, beware of the various triggers.

Triggers: missing child, child abuse, child sexual assault, emotional abuse, toxic relationships, death, gore, grief, animal abuse, animal testing, animal death 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

szyca's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dezaraemd's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was the most gripping, intense, horrifying book I have ever read. Well done, Nick Cutter.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

apolloniablooms's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Like a lot of horror/thrillers this book suffers from hitting the peak amount of tenseness a person can feel really early on and then maintaining it instead of giving the reader relief then building tension again.  By the end I was skimming.  Bad guy is bad because of mental illness. Wish it had been a short story.  Would be a good premise for a video game.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting