Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

38 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

If Alix E. Harrow has no fans I an dead. This women can't write a bad book. As I am finished reading all of Harrows full length books I will say this, her stories may start slow but they never disappoint. January is a bi racial girl living in her father's employers house while he travels the world to find treasures. When she discovers a door to another world at age 7, she opens up her own world to possibilities beyond comprehension and a tale of true love that spans decades and portals. I adored this book, no surprise there. The way this is written almost as a letter to a friend depicting a gruesome and enchanting tale of escape, found family, and adventure, is so beautiful and typical of Harrow. I can never recommend her books enough even if they ruin all other books for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

se_wigget's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

Exquisite fantasy novel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Violence

merbears's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, and Pregnancy

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence

kimbopugh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Sexism, and Gaslighting

craftysnailtail's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

I can't get enough of Harrow's style of writing. Her metaphors and descriptions are like nothing I've encountered in writing before. Everything feels lyrical and alive. It's honestly difficult to move on after reading one of her books because it's like I have a book hangover, but in the worst way. I love the story and the characters, but what I can't move on from is Harrow herself. Her style almost ruins reading anything else after finishing a novel of hers.

Overall, I highly recommend this book just for Harrow's style alone, but it's also a fascinating plot with creative and well developed characters. Yes, it starts off rather slow, but that's extremely intentional. Yes, January feels frustratingly naive, but of course she is given her living situation. This book is all about adventure, imagination, and developing your own life's narrative. One of the top books I read all year and I recommend it to everyone!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, Abandonment, and Alcohol

silverhill's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-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: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Self harm, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

milenaaax98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

I have never annotated and underlined so many things in a fiction book. This book is written so beautifully, some sentences make your heart ache. We should all try to be like January

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Gun violence

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Slavery, Stalking, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

athryn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

This took a while to get to the actual adventure part, which was where it really took off for me. Before that, there's quite a bit of trauma to go through, and I will say that it made it so I had to put it down quite a bit. I thought the interspersing of the two narratives to be pretty interesting. I thought this was a good spin on a concept done by a few other people recently.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War