Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

77 reviews

kater07's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, and Gaslighting

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Vomit

ankiaisreading's review

mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Drug use, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Suicide

swiftie_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Grief

komaedacoffee's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved it, even tho it got very ridiculous

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

mariamizhys's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

It wasn't bad. It was certainly entertaining. But even though it ended on a cliffhanger, I'm not tempted to continue with the series. 
The Idea of the story is basically the movie "The Game" with Michael Douglas, but with magic and in a circus-like atmosphere. Understanding that and being able to predict the general direction and idea of the plot made it much less exciting than it would have been for someone who didn't know, where this was going. It was a good rendition of that idea but the characters seemed a bit too immature for me to truly empathize with them. And thankfully I was never traumatized in the way Scarlett and Tella were. So I can't truly understand them. From an educational point of view, it's good to try to understand, what a person, who went through such trauma would feel. But I'm not sure that the author depicted that most truly and authentically and so I'm afraid that she didn't quite handle it with the care it deserved.
So I applaud her for including domestic abuse victims but I'm not sure she did the justice and that feels wrong. Like she used that for shock and as an excuse for flawed writing. 

All in all, nice idea, and a very fun aesthetic, but a bit too much thoughtless drama and a bit of a lack of self-awareness. 
I do not believe that I will continue with this series. At least not in the near future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Grief

hq_reads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a fantastic read. Just what I needed to get me out of my reading slump. It was rich in plot within a magical world with an excellent FMC. This adventure was mysterious and high-stakes. I couldn't put it down, each chapter ended with me needing to immediately start the next. 

I had so many theories about the plot and the characters but this book had me mistrusting everything that was happening! I really loved Scarlett and Julian and thought their banter was great. I have some further character thoughts that contain spoilers which I will post below, but overall this book was fantastic. I can't wait to read the next one!

Okay, I was convinced early on that Julian was Legend, so when it was revealed to Scarlett in the dream, I was disappointed... only to find out he wasn't! The reveals in this book were really surprising! I was not expecting Tella to be behind the game as well though. However, the gaslighting that Tella does to Scarlett at the end of the book is so toxic, she's really minimised the role she played in Scarlett's trauma. The whiplash poor Scarlett has... I can't imagine she can move past that so quickly. Anyway - I do not like Tella!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Death and Suicide attempt

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.25

This book was very much whimsical nonsense tied up in a mystery that was reminiscent of a studio ghibli movie.  You question what is real and what is not, if what has happened actually did happen.

There was enough mystery and world building to keep me interested in reading more, though the characters were a bit one dimensional they managed to hold my attention.

Other books I've read with this vibe did not have strong enough characters to keep me engaged and since this was a debut novel it has a lot of promise for what comes next.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence

louisesbookcorner_32's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Bullying, Suicide, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse