Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

14 reviews

lucashearn1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Finally a good book for book club! This was super solid and I loved the way everything unfolded. Using the interview to switch back and forth was a cool way to approach that. 

Definitely lots of yuck, icky, gross moments. Very un-comfy at times. I liked the character of Maya/Inara. She’s flawed but was a super interesting journey and character development as time went on. The relationships between the girls felt very real and we got a villain we can detest.

My biggest gripe comes with the last 20ish pages, I did not vibe with that reveal and I feel like it kinda tainted a big portion of the story. All in all an interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kimmytanzone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

mckinleyelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Actual rating: 4.75

Dot Hutchison’s mind?????? This was one of the more disturbing books I’ve ever read, an intricately woven psychological suspense thriller of captivity and control.

I was fascinated by this story, with every terrifying and twisted detail revealed, every piece of the puzzle notched into place then thrown back into the pile of crazy. The writing was very fast-paced and the dual POVs lended well to this kind of storytelling—one from the main character during her days of being held captive, the other from the FBI agent interviewing her in the aftermath of her rescue. There are no “chapters” per se, but none of it ever feels like it’s dragging.

I don’t want to give anything away about the plot and how insane it truly is, but this book definitely gave me serious chills and thought spirals. It reminded me of The OA a lot, as well as “Pretty Girls” by Karin Slaughter, both of which I loved. But overall it’s a very unique story of abduction, delusion and survival. 

I took off a quarter of a star only because there was one element of the ending that seemed a little too coincidental!! 

Only other thing I would say is this book is riddled with graphic, upsetting descriptions and depictions. Pretty much any trigger you can think of is in this book so it’s not for the faint of heart, like at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

rczimmer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

The book wasn't badly written but the plot and issues are quite dark (even for someone who enjoys thrillers and true crime). Definitely a more twisted than your average thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

annalisa4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Fudge, this book was hard to read but so darkly enchanting I couldn’t stop.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kkalicky94's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

phoricho's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I initially rated this book 4 stars, but after a couple of months of it living rent-free in my mind, I decided to change that to a 5 star. My original rating was more due to the fact that this book left me not knowing how to feel. It was so different from anything I've ever read, both in content and layout. 

Content-wise, it's a very dark book, and the characters go through numerous traumas. It's not for everyone. Check the trigger warnings.

Layout-wise, there are no chapters. That's unique, but it works with the story. There are two parts, and the POVs are broken up by section breaks. 

Yes, it's a horrifying story, but I thought it was beautifully told, and the characters felt so real. I'm excited to read the rest of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

aparker89's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book kicks off with a bang and doesn't stop! It's a super fast paced read that holds a lot in its few pages! You are immediately thrown into the middle of a horrific story and you just have to find out what happens! The final twist at the end is a little too thrown together and honestly I would have left it out, but I'm not the author. This is a great book to jump into and just enjoy! 
Note this book is a horror/thriller and while the author does "protect" us from some of it early on that shielding does disappear as the story progresses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Classism

evevallarta's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Wow.
Esta demasiado intenso, es una historia muy fuerte, aunque el final cierra bien, hay una luz al final del tunel.
Esta narrado de manera muy unica e incluso al final sorprende un pequeño twist. 
Definitivamente recomiendo checar los trigger warnings ⚠️ porque son a lo larggo de toooodo el libro.
Se gana sus 5 estrellas porque no le encontré ni un error, me engancho desde el principio 
AUNQUE, no es de mis favoritos.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail