Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

98 reviews

marissa_nancy_nicole's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Mental illness, Confinement, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Torture, Physical abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Gun violence, Vomit, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

jane_moriarty's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.0

Charlie, our main character, is not like the other girls. No, Charlie is way dumber. In fact she is so stupid that only a man could have written her. I mean what woman in the universe would get into a car with a total stranger to drive through an isolated mountain area in the middle of the night, and only hours into the drive stops to consider that this man might want to rape or murder her? Let alone what woman whose roommate was murdered mere weeks ago by a so called 'campus killer' who she knows is still on the loose? After he's been basically given her hints the whole time that he is a shady bastard? She didn't check his license plate??

What started as a mediocre thriller with a decent premise took absolutely ridiculous turns in the second half. And not in a fun way. The story could have been ridiculous but thrilling, with the opportunity for an interesting cat and mouse game. But the writing is just lazy, the plot twists make no sense, the bad guys are laughable, and the final ending... I don't wanna spoil it, but let's just say Charlie went all in for the grand finale of stupid, stupid life choices.

This was my second Riley Sager book and it was even worse than Final Girls, so I think I should just call it quits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and Car accident

meagalou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Car accident, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

paigew1226's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Oh how I wanted to like this book, but everything was just so meh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

jess4276's review

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

The first 3/4 of this book was slow. The plot twists were nicely done. There are 3 major plot twists: the first was a good twist, the second was kind of meh, but the third....I literally gasped out loud. I'm good at figuring stuff out early in books but this third twist threw me and that is the main reason I rated the book as high as I did. I rate books based on how entertained I was and the fact that an author could make me gasp took it from a 3 star to a 4 star. But I wouldn't recommend it just for that twist. Overall, it was about a 3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Torture, and Car accident

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

mysterious tense

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

3.0

Overall:  loved the set-up of the chapters, good descriptions

Truly couldn't stand the first half of the book. The main character ignored all of the red flags, and then, when she found out certain information,

she would just confront the alleged serial killer directly

. I had to pause the audio book to scream way too many times (in frustration)

I was reeled back in by the second half though. Less 'screaming at the girl running up the stairs instead of out the front door' vibes. More plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Grief, and Confinement

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Gore, Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

thejenstamps's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

“Movie magic. It’s a palpable thing.”

Riley Sager takes us on another wild ride full of twists we saw coming and several that came out of nowhere. 

I’d label  this more of a horror/thriller rather than mystery/thriller like his other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Death

Minor: Torture

somersaf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I actually did.

I was honestly surprised in the last quarter of the book. I wasn't expecting Marge to be Mee-maw, I wasn't expecting Jake to just be a bounty killer (not the killer), and I certainly didn't expect Robbie to be the killer. I'm not sure how I feel about Jake/Charlie ending up together.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and was constantly feeling on edge.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Gore

sonygaystation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

I’m really not sure what I expected but I was curious how an entire book could be set just on a road trip with a potential serial killer while still being interesting. For someone who often guesses what happens/twists/etc easily and early on, this book caught me off guard. I had a fun time although it did feel flat in some places (ie the ending and certain characters) and rushed in others. I’d read it again just to see what it’s like knowing everything you know after finishing the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

michaelanormand's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.75

every time i thought i was done calling charlie a dumb bitch i was wrong

edit: i just learned that this was written by a man. i now know why charlie was so fucking stupid

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Rape