Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

31 reviews

jcinf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

After my last few books had 70+ page chapters, it was nice reading something with short chapters again. I finished this book in 2-3 days. 

I enjoyed the plot, most of the characters, and (again) the short chapters. 

I will say, I had my suspicions from the start that

Jesse was a bad man. Never trust a love bomber, lol.

and I was right. Predicting that didn’t make it any less enjoyable for me, though. If the author didn’t want readers to make the hypothesis on their own, that could’ve been remedied by slower pacing. But I like fast-paced books and have been desperately in need of one. So I think it’s good as is. 

I liked that there were twists without it being confusing or hard to follow. That’s a trap a lot of thrillers fall into, and it ends up docking stars for me when they do that. 

The main critique I have is that I felt like one of the main characters pieced some things together too easily almost. You almost have to suspend disbelief about that in order to enjoy it. But I do feel like the ending kind of packages that up more nicely. 

I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers!

Note: heavy trigger warnings for everything I tagged. Especially on abuse and DV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sstewart89's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emmyshh's review

dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

daniofthewood's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Slavery

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

I couldn't have loved this more. Heart dropping suspense, holler-out-loud plot twists and a touch of pure insanity. This is one of my favorite books of the year so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

katiedoesntftba's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

5.0

I haven't read a book like this in a LONG time where I thought I knew where it was going and I was completely wrong. I got whiplash multiple times and loved it! I wish I could wipe my memory and read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident

kayrenee521's review

challenging 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

3.75

Homeless, and running from her past Lee discovers one morning a woman so desperate to get away from her abusive husband that she’s suicidal. She says her name is Hazel and her husband Benjamin is a criminal defense attorney who controls her every move. The two become close, hatching a plan to get Hazel away from Benjamin.
       Lee soon learns that Hazel isn’t everything she seems and she may have been running from one bad situation right into an even worse one. 
     I enjoyed this book, large portions were told from alternating perspectives of Hazel and Lee. I found myself sympathetic to both women and their situations. My only complaint is things seemed too tidied up at the end and it had a little too much of a “ happy ending “
Plus I had to suspend disbelief at the way Benjamin got away with some stuff he did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Dementia, and Classism

mckinleyelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Loved it but felt the end was rushed, otherwise it would have been 5/5 for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

stanleykaty's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

disguisedposer's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent