Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

29 reviews

lars702's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

4 stars / this book had me on the edge of my seat up until the end. unfortunately i feel like the ending was too rushed - i would have appreciated an epilogue or maybe some more explanation from the author on what the heck just happened. otherwise a pretty solid thriller

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Medical content, and Kidnapping

ilovegilmoregirls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Excrement, Vomit, and Alcohol

morganperks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

buckupcamper's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

my god, the redundancy! the writing is so tedious--it over-explains, it's repetitive and superfluous. i found it annoying to listen to, but i think i would've been even more annoyed if i was reading it. i'm not a skimmer and this seems like a book that could be skimmed. the 1.5 stars is for the mystery--i wanted to know whodunnit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

hayleyvharrington's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Abortion

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Stalking

crosberg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I wanted to like this book so much, and honestly it was a big let down.  I struggle with first person narration at the best of times, but switching between three characters in two timelines, all in first person, left me with a sour taste in my mouth.  The real sin of this book is setting up a lot of possible villains for the two core crimes and then delivering not one but FOUR "shocking twists".  Even worse, the main twist had absolutely zero set up, which made it feel like a cheap "gotcha", on top of villainizing one of the only people in the book that comes from a marginalized community.  I really love thrillers and mysteries, but part of what makes them great is trying to figure out the puzzle that the writer has set up along the way.  Kubica does a very good job of building tension and making it hard to trust anyone in the book, but she does offer a couple of protagonists that feel safe and behave in totally reasonable ways in the face of utterly unreasonable trauma and violence.  But making

Bea, the tall, tough, punk lesbian

the ultimate villain feels like Kubica cut out the middle of the puzzle she spent the rest of the book building and just glued a completely different puzzle into it.  It felt forced, rushed, and ultimately insulting not just for how much of a hack job it was but also for making this particular character a bad guy, given the demographics of their very white, cis, het suburban existence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

thrillofthepage's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Suicide attempt