Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets

31 reviews

kia_y_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

salemander's review against another edition

4.0

omfg this book made me so goddamn mad!!!! loved the conversation about content moderation and the moral implications of what is and isn’t considered okay to post. as someone who ran the gauntlet a bunch when i was in middle school that shit fucks you up even if you don’t think it does. wanted to fucking punch all her bitch ass coworkers who turned out to be conspiracy theorists. would love to have continued on with the ending cause it got very interesting, but i do absolutely love an open ending so i can’t complain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, and Gaslighting

clarxvizconde13's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

More of a psychological fiction than a thriller, open ended, and there are a lot of loose threads. Good for a quick read though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

madelinequinne's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

I picked this book up because i’ve recently become fascinated with the macabre and disturbing ways the internet can be used, so this seemed like a perfect novel, and i enjoyed it even though it wasn’t quite what i expected. I thought it would focus more on the effects that the dark side of the internet can have on people, whereas it was more about Kayleigh’s relationships and how her and her girlfriend’s job affected the way they were together. 

The end confused me slightly, I couldn’t tell if Sigrid was accusing Kayleigh of performing unconsensual acts on her, and whether that was what actually happened or if what she’d been subjected to through her work twisted her view on their relationships. I was rather shocked when Sigrid and Kyo started spouting extremely anti semitic views, but i think that plot line was a great example of how being constantly exposed to those kinds of opinions and beliefs can make someone subscribe to them. 

Overall i enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick and gripping read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cady_sass's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This is a fascinating topic but the execution is just okay. The author ends the book by stating clearly that while the novel is entirely fictional, the similarities to actual happenings is on purpose and goes on to list many, many sources about real life content moderators and legal action taken against Facebook. Unfortunately, I feel that those articles would be more interesting. The entire premise revolves around the idea that our main protagonist does not want any involvement in legal action against her former employer and promises the reader we will come to understand why. Well, I don’t. I think you just wrote 100 pages about getting dumped while you worked a shitty job. 

If this is supposed to be horror, it didn’t go far enough. If this is supposed to be social commentary, it’s too weird and the focus is placed on the wrong parts of the story. In my humble opinion this could’ve used another 100 or so pages and have one of the characters really, truly fall off their rocker.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-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

3.5

Babes im p sure mr stitic doesnt care about most of this

Hm this wasnt rly what i was expecting, i didnt rly want it to focus solely on their relationship and the translation felt a bit sticky at times tbh

‘that makes me feel like I know her. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe I don't know her at all. That idea makes me anxious, I need to check if it's true, I need to verify it- maybe it's this thought that makes me do what I do next, ask what I'm asking: “I'm sorry, what?"’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism, and Gaslighting

emilyrowanstudio's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A generous three stars, more so for the concept than anything else. WHTRTP follows a group of content moderators and how what they see day in, day out affects them without them always realising it. This book could have been so good but instead it's left me feeling hungry for a story of what it wants to, and should, be. One that is actually dark, actually about our collective desensitisation to horrible things vis-a-vis the internet, actually about second-hand trauma.

It's subtle, sure, but more so by way of not going far enough. There isn't as much to read between the lines as its tone suggests. This book things it's fucked up, but it's not (and that's not my own desensitisation talking(!), it really isn't). The characters are underdeveloped, the ending extremely abrupt and underwhelming. It's not an unenjoyable read, but only because it's written like it's building up to a jaw-dropping ending... but it's not. Then you're left wondering what the point of the previous 130 pages were (it was a short read, at least).

The concept has the makings of a truly 21st century psychological horror. Hopefully someone soon will write another book and do it justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Gaslighting

westcdf's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was really good, it has a very shocking ending. I will say that I didn't particularly love the narrating style, it felt a little gimmicky. I do think the overall plot was excellent and the development of the characters was great. Made me feel queasy after I read it. Check the TWs for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

A very triggering read. The content they discuss moderating is somewhat disturbing. Plot contains clear sexual abuse.

molliundera_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

0.25

Literally nothing like I was expecting? This turned into a book about a toxic relationship pretty much. Yes I get the point that the images they were seeing at work was what was making them mentally ill and toxic, but the focus was on a romantic relationship, not even really on individual mental health. The ending was awful. And also the fact this was supposed to be written as a letter to a lawyer was completely irrelevant and unnecessary. 
That’s not even mentioning the unnecessary homophobia, racism, antisemitism, and fat phobia. Slurs and conversation of these topics were played off as a joke at first, then by the end were cemented as actual beliefs several characters held. 
It has a pretty cover. Literally the only good thing I can say. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

themeadowlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

3.5

Talk about bad decisions. 

An insightful look at abuse in the digital age. 

This is a startling book, and will not be for everyone. However, the things it says about the depravity of the world, abuse, relationships, and PTSD are important. When does an abuser cross the line? How does an abuser convince themselves what they’re doing is ok? Can trauma justify horrible actions? This story takes unreliable narration to another level. It absolutely left me thinking. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail