Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

69 reviews

whatemilysreading's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is Abby’s best so far. She REALLY stepped it up with this one and it is worth ALL the hype. I’ve thought all of her books are in that Romance+ world, and Just For the Summer took it even further.

I was expecting a light and summery romance, but this book has so much more depth than the beach read I thought it would be. Compared to other AJ books, this one is LOW on the spice (like, almost none at all) but honestly the forehead kisses were enough (!!!!!)

Justin is THE ONE. He was the absolute best, so thoughtful and reliable, and I loved every cute interaction we got between him and his siblings. I loved Emma and her empathy and how much she grew over the course of the book. Her friendship with Maddy was so special.

Beyond the romance, there was SO MUCH going on here with their respective families. To finally get the full picture of Emma’s mom made the whole book really click for me. The family dynamics on Justin’s side were really compelling too, to see how he adjusted to this new role that he never asked for but couldn’t say no to.

I just really loved this book. It was one that I wished I was reading all day until I could pick it up again, but at the same time I didn’t want it to end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Mental illness and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent

shesflippinpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Death of parent and Grief

bibliomich's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

A million stars for Abby Jimenez, always! I didn't think it was possible to find an Abby Jimenez book that would top my love for Part of Your World, but Just for the Summer might just be my new favorite.

What I loved:
- Just for the Summer takes place in the Part of Your World universe, and I loved getting to see some of my old favorites (and some not-so-favorites, *cough cough* Neil) return in this installment. I love that her new books feel like getting an extra epilogue to her earlier works. If you haven't read Part of Your World or Yours Truly, I do recommend reading them first, just because it improves the overall reading experience of Just for the Summer.
- Abby Jimenez uses sensitivity readers and mental health consultants when writing her books, and her mental health representation is excellent. I especially appreciate the way she shows how mental health can impact an individual's personal growth, as well as their relationships with others.
- I love all of Jimenez's MCs, and Justin is no exception. He is so, so lovable, and I was rooting for him and his family the whole time.
- The return of Doug. That's all. (IFYKYK)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

jennipea382's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Vomit, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Child abuse, Cursing, and Sexual content

Minor: Dementia, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

bookswithvicky's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Mental illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

abiigrl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

issisannettereads's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

agrandromance's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

gwenswoons's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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

5.0

I loved this so much. I love Abby Jimenez - I will pre-order all her books always - and this one was maybe my favorite ever. I am continually impressed and moved by how deep the character development felt in this, and how deeply and emotionally Jimenez deals with major trauma and mental health struggles; this book is probably the most vivid example of that and I thought it was just gorgeous. It is NOT light and easy - though I loved knowing that there would be an HEA (thank you genre fiction!!), I appreciated that the mention and dealing with the characters’ stuff wasn’t cursory. I LOVED the main characters and the ways they grew and changed, and also felt (as always) that the side characters were beautifully drawn. (Also love the mentions, big and small, of  characters from Abby Jimenez’s other books - ones we love and ones we hate!! The various webs that intersect in her world building just feel so good!)

I loved the audio narration by Christine Lakin and Zachary Webber (both SO good), though the author Q&A was a little disappointing to me; I’ll add it to the content warnings but as someone who has major trauma from a house fire I found AJ’s giggles about the major fire plot point in the book kind of off-putting. As I said I will still for sure order her next one and can’t wait to read it - I drew this out for five days with much effort and it made me so happy. ❤️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Vomit

tannerlauren's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting