Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

38 reviews

sammy357's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

I've never read dark academia before and I really only started the book because I thought the premise was interesting and wanted to read more sapphic books, so maybe I wasn't the intended audience.
I thought their would be magic, witches, and ghosts in the book and that's what I was most excited for. That and the mystery of the Dalloway Five.

But unfortunately there wasn't actually any magic involved.

I wasn't really invested in the romance or the characters. Honestly from the beginning Ellis gave off bad vibes. When I read that she was a "method writer" I knew she would be a walking red flag. I mean have you ever heard of a method actor that didn't take it too far? 
Overall the book was okay. I liked the beginning because of the hints of magic and a haunting, wasn't really invested in the rest of the book, and liked the last couple chapters

with the murder and Felicity trying not to get framed.

 
Wouldn't read again but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Child abuse

Manipulation, substance abuse (alcohol mostly), suicide references (no actual abuse) reference to racist history at a PWI

apurplehyacinth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

4.5⭐️

This book is the most stereotypical dark academia book i’ve ever read, but honestly, i didn’t mind.

i enjoyed the sometimes cringy way things were described like this was a harry potter fanfic. it felt magical and whimsy. that is until the plot twist that had me sitting on my bed with my mouth open in shock.

lesbian representation was a major plus for me, and i have a love hate relationship with the ending of this book. i love it for the grossness it left me with, while also hating it for that. i probably won’t ever read this again but it’s a fun one time read. I can understand why some people wouldn’t enjoy it, but I think it all just depends on how you interpret the content in this book. it’s heavy on darker topics and discussion of mental illnesses. if you’re not open to exploring how sometimes people use mental health as a weapon and how manipulation can cause a person to act in irrational ways. then maybe don’t read this. but for someone who loves thinking about this stuff, i had a fun time.

a great dark academia sapphic story mixed with murder, magic, and mystery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

“The question isn't whether magic is real. It's whether I can touch it without being consumed by it.”

There is a certain irony that a book that criticises characters for pursuing witchcraft in a shallow and aesthetic way finds itself more focused on aesthetics than a plot. This is a story that values witchy and dark academia vibes first and plot second. 

When I say that I didn’t know where this book was going, it is not in the usual way you’d expect from a tale marketed as a thriller. It was because for 75% of this story, it didn’t really go anywhere. The bulk of this book involves Felicity experiencing her slowing building flirtation, struggling with mental illness, and ignoring a sea of red flags amidst a list of dark academia brand backdrops. 

The real substance in this book hides in the final quarter. It is here that the events I expected 100 pages ago started firing off in quick succession. The last 15% is a whirlwind and a victim of pacing issues due to the sheer amount of plot existing within. 

Overall, this is a book with a strong start and an okay ending (although I am conflicted about the epilogue and if it even has a place in the story). But it got severely lost along the way. As a literary tale of grief and female anger and its relationship to witchcraft both past and present, it is a fully fledged entity with pacing issues. As a thriller, it misses the mark. It is not a bad book, it’s just not a memorable one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Racism, and Classism

sylexlibris's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

gmat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

solarel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

At some points in this book I thought I was able to predict what would come next but I was always proven wrong. It kept me in a state of shock at every step with plot twists and reveals. 

With the subject of high school girls, it makes sense that it read like a YA. At some points it felt like it was almost pretentiously trying to be adult, but that’s also on theme. The prose felt like it was trying too hard at times to be dark and edgy, but overall the vibes were very spooky academic. 

Definitely a page turner. I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia

ettegoom'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book did everything that Plain Bad Heroines completely failed to achieve.  The characters and their means of dealing with the situations in which they found themselves were sufficiently mysterious and stressful to keep me engaged.  The twist wasn't unexpected, but was still enjoyable, and the conflict between the main character's own delusions and anxieties and the reality of the situation was quite engaging. 
I did find Felicity a little annoying at times, but in the main, I enjoyed the book and wanted the best for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

3.75

It was an interesting read. I did not go into it knowing very much. I really enjoyed the beginning in the premise that set up about unreliable narrators and trying to figure out what’s going on with these two girls. Also trying to figure out what happened with Alex. But it jumps around a lot which can make it hard to follow. There’s animal cruelty for seemingly no reason. I don’t fully connect with the characters and don’t really care what ended up happening to them so I can’t really recommend it. I’m not really loving that it seems to say killing people is so awesome. Some other review said “sorry, killing is not supposed to be a girl boss move” and that’s exactly how I feel too. It’s hard to get behind a message that feels like “lesbians are clearly all psychopaths”. I hope that’s not the intent. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

squinnittowinit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense 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

3.25

Personally I'm not a fan of psychological thrillers, as I find the theme of obsession to be boring. As much as I still did not enjoy what this book was about or any of the characters, I have to admit that it is very well-written. The pacing feels both laid-back and dream-like, yet suspenseful at the same time, as

the narrator slowly reveals herself to be more and more unreliable as she deals with both past trauma and current manipulation.

This is one of those books where all the pieces come together in the end to finally reveal the entire picture, creating a satisfying wrap-up, if nothing else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence and Blood