Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

9 reviews

bruhbruh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Anxious book that deals brilliantly with queerphobia, despair and hope. Complex characters, very well written espacially Rukhsana who is really strong and inspiring. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Outing, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Rape, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, and Xenophobia

lilylovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Lesbophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Biphobia, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Misogyny

dancevera's review

challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, and Death

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, and Child abuse

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism

kp_writ's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

If you are looking at reviews before deciding to read: PLEASE for the love of god read the content warnings. It's rough. And because drugging and conversion therapy aren't included in Storygraph's list of content warnings, be prepared for those too.

I'll likely have to return to this review after I've digested some more, because dear god does this book give you a lot to digest. It was an easy read in that the writing style was good (if somewhat dialogue and narration-heavy) and each scene was quick and jumped straight into the next (a literal page-turner), but it was so beyond challenging in that the content was super dark. Thankfully this story never lets a plot point go without resolving it near immediately - one of the reasons it was such a page-turner, truly, but that was something that annoyed me quite a bit because it disrupted the tension and anticipation - but it really dragged on when we hit the darkest part of the story. I don't think I'm entirely satisfied with the ending since it feels so unrealistic. It felt as though the author was trying to shove a happy ending in there, but this book felt like it needed a bittersweet ending instead. There was one specific plot point that felt like it only existed for the shock factor, and it never really resolved. One of my biggest gripes with this book is that I kind of hated Rukhsana's Seattle friends and girlfriend. They were supposed to be the anchor point for her, especially during the darkest times, but they fell really flat as characters and as friends. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Hate crime, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexism

eashani's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, and Outing

Minor: Racism

belle2008's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

rhaase0509's review against another edition

emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was a little young for me, as the characters are in high school. It is difficult at times to read the choices they are making when a better alternative seems obvious. However, this is a book about teenagers, and teenagers do not always make good decisions. At one point the main character reads a diary including some intense subject matter that I did not feel like the book did enough to address. The abuse detailed in the diary seemed to be glossed over in favour of the main character's personal development. I do not think such subjects should be handled so lightly. 
Overall, the story was interesting and I enjoyed learning more about Islamic and Bengali culture.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault