Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan

3 reviews

readsbymoonlight's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Torture, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Classism, and Drug use

happily_undignified's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan is a dark fantasy sapphic romance set in Singapore in the 1920s. It is very adult and should be read only after checking out the content warnings. There are tons of them including SA, racism, classic, DA, gore, and violence. The main character, Gean Choo, Is caught in a love triangle between Verity, a. Powerful vampire and Po Lam, her majordomo. As the book progresses, we learn more about Verity's motivations and how Gean fits into everything. The world building in the book is very gothic and surreal. The mansion sounds like something straight out of interview with the vampire. This book is gratuitously, violent and definitely a good read for people who are a fan of gore and horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Rape, Murder, and Sexual assault

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

Thanks to the author and Netgalley for a copy of this book.

This dark, sapphic horror takes us to 1920s colonial Singapore. 

Gean Choo starts a new job as a lady's companion for Verity Edevane, who unbeknownst to her initially is a vampire. Gean Choo falls hard for Verity, and also for Po Lam, Verity's majordomo. This love triangle is unique in that, we the readers get to make the chose for Gean Choo, with two different endings.

I loved the historical setting of colonial Singapore which isn't something often told in literature.

Horror isn't something I usually go for, but I throughly enjoyed the darkness and steamy of this book. Giving two alternative endings is a great way for the author to keep all readers satisfied.

I certainly preferred the second ending.

The length of this book ensured we got plenty of time to feel for each character and understand some of their motives. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be checking out some of the author's other work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Vomit, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia