Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

10 reviews

slimshaedy92's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

There are some cliches here, but overall a pretty effective ghost story once it gets moving. I say that because it definitely took me a couple of days to really get moving on such a thin book mainly because it’s been awhile since I read Gothic horror. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

aloy's review

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Murder, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical content, Gore, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Animal death

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

pinkyoshi's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Confinement, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Miscarriage, Death, Vomit, Sexism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, and Animal death

immovabletype's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

this book is perfectly paced and builds tension and fear very well. i admit i'm an easy mark when it comes to haunted houses but fwiw this definitely gave me some real chills. i flew through the last third of the book. unfortunately it fell short of its potential for me. in particular this is a historical, victorian novel steeped in the expectations on women from outside of their control and within themselves - a lot of themes of what it means for a woman to be mad, and it blurs the line a bit. i was into it, and then some reveals happened that seemed to undercut that commentary. by the time it got to its ambiguous ending (ugh) it didn't even have the power to annoy me as much as it usually does because i was already disappointed.

i can't really say much further without spoilering since my gripes hinge on a big twist, but i am going to include them (under spoilers) in my content warnings below.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Classism, Grief, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Gore, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Infertility, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Child abuse, and Drug use

expanding on infertility triggers, as well as additional ableism/disfigurement prejudice: there is a disfigured child who is mute due to a birth defect. it's believed she was born without a tongue because her mother used witchcraft to conceive her when she was unable to conceive. big, plot important spoilers:

this conjecture is 'proven' true; her mother allowed something evil to enter her child when she conceived her outside of natural means.

also beware of many inexplicit mentions of CSA.

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

This was definitely quite creepy and I liked the different timelines, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending?? 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Stalking

adelinebal4's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Ableism, Suicide, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, and Child abuse

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Blood, Miscarriage, Animal death, Ableism, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Child abuse

heather_freshparchment's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse, Murder, Vomit, and Self harm

voilajean's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Violence, Gaslighting, and Grief

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Rating: 4.50 estrelas 

TRIGER WARNING: Death, Miscarriage, Death of Parent, Fire Injuries, Suicide, Murder, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Mental Illness, Racism, Ableism, Animal Death, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Drug use 

No meu retorno a leitura acabei descobrindo que gosto bastante de Terror e Mistério Gótico. Desde sempre tive essa impressão pois sempre apreciei filmes que eram parte do gênero, e gostei bastante de “Os inocentes” quando o li em minha adolescência. Mas foi a partir do meu retorno a leitura no ano de Nosso Senhor de 2020 que realmente se tornou claro pra mim que Terror/Mistério Gótico é um dos meus subgêneros de ficção preferidos. The Silent Companions é uma entrada recente desse subgênero. Apesar de recente a autora, Laura Purcell, criou uma atmosfera Gótica da época Vitoriana bastante intrigante, com todos os dias cinzas, casas assombradas, ambientação de época que um Terror gótico tem direito. Eu gostei bastante da atmosfera e dos personagens. Elsie, Sarah. Jolyon foram personagens que gostei de seguir e até mesmo a irritante Mabel, acredito ter sido essa a intenção da autora. Elsie foi uma protagonista forte. Ela encarou situações que eu nunca suportaria (andar a noite sozinha na casa sabendo que “os companheiros” estavam em todo lugar é um grande “NÃO” para mim) e mostrou coragem sempre que necessário, todo o tempo demonstrando que lutava contra o medo que sentia. 

Devo admitir que minhas habilidades de compreensão de texto não deviam estar 100%, pois ao checar no Goodreads perguntas sobre a obra vi que um leitor perguntou se Jolyon era filho de Elsie que havia sido abusada por seu pai. A autora respondeu que sim ao leitor. Fiquei bege. O abuso sexual por parte do pai passou pela minha cabeça, mas em nenhum momento desconfiei que o apego de Elsie por Jolyon era porque este era seu filho e não irmão. Isso torna os acontecimentos do final ainda mais significantes. 

Algo que não gostei na história foi que na seção em que foi contado como a família Bainbridge do falecido marido de Elsie, Rupert, adquiriu os Silent companions no ano de 1635, após o trágico sacrifício do cavalo do rei e desonra da família Bainbridge, Anne Bainbridge tentou devolver os companheiros a loja em que havia comprado, só que, surpresa, surpresa, todo o prédio e a loja haviam desaparecido. Isso foi desnecessariamente cliché. A autora poderia ter, por exemplo, feito o prédio estar lá, porém vazio de forma a implantar a dúvida se o vendedor era humano ou não. Da forma como foi feita parece cliché e ao mesmo tempo desconectado de todos os outros elementos da história. Porque uma loja fantasma apareceria ali, naquele momento, ao mesmo tempo que Hetta, filha de Anne, já era um elemento sobrenatural na casa dos Bainbridge? A autora poderia ter construído uma relação entre a loja e Hetta para não parecer tão desconectado, aleatório e coincidente. 

Outra ressalva que tenho sobre o livro, mas esta porque sou sensível a crueldade contra animais, foram as mortes do cavalo e da vaca, as quais foram cruéis. Mas tenho que admitir que houve proposito para as mortes e estas não foram descritas de forma gráfica. 

Gostei bastante do desenvolvimento da amizade entre Elsie e Sarah. O relacionamento delas começou com antipatia por parte de Elsie e evoluiu para que as duas só conseguissem confiar uma na outra. Isso tornou o final, em que Hetta possuiu Sarah permanentemente, mais triste e amargo, pois eu realmente queria que elas continuassem juntas. E por fim o livro deixou um final aberto em que não sabemos se Elsie foi condenada a forca ou continuou presa no Hospício. Acredito, que apesar de aberto, o final foi adequado. 

Gostei do livro. Pelas questões mencionadas, particularmente o desaparecimento da loja, não posso dar 5 estrelas, mas acredito em um sólido 4.5 estrelas.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Rape