Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

14 reviews

stephaniezd's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

3.5

Overall a solidly okay book. Some loose ends tied up too nicely and some just drifted away weirdly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Pregnancy

friedfae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

Story was overall pretty enjoyable but certain parts (ending, illness) felt like a copout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Murder

bookishchaos's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked it at first but after 50%, the "twists" aren't too hard to figure out. There's two timelines in the story, one in the 70s (Mari's POV) and the other in present time (Emily's POV). I didn't care for Em's perspective and found it quite boring, but I loved Mari's story. Would have given this 4 stars if it was more focused on her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use

heypretty52's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, Suicide, Stalking, and Blood

The grieving of an description of child death is explicit. The miscarriage by another character isn't explicit and is only briefly mentioned.

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Really wanted to hate this book. The women are awful, and I hate when women mistrust each other and go out of there ways to treat each other down. The patriarchy makes it hard enough to live, and we should be building a better world for other women together, so it was really easy to hate these “best friends,” but I have to about the multilayered storied approach worked and was clever enough for me to keep reading, and I really dislike myself at this moment for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Gaslighting, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Child death

elzibub's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Child death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Suicide, and Miscarriage

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

I really enjoyed this storytelling, and I was definitely kept guessing quite a few times during the story. I think the complicated friendship relationship was really interesting, and the kind of "mixed media" style kept the reader really paying attention.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Classism, Bullying, Abandonment, Blood, Chronic illness, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, Misogyny, Suicide, and Vomit

markedwithanm's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

itsheyfay's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Addiction, Drug use, Child death, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit

vanella's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, and Cursing

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Vomit

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy