Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

5 reviews

wispy_reviews's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.5

The dialogue is well written and the characters are fleshed out well.  The story didn’t quite follow through what it was setting up, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racial slurs and Violence

hughesie's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Child death

Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcohol, Vomit, Addiction, and Confinement

Minor: Blood, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked the plot more than the writing. I found the beginning kind of drawn-out, and I had to stick with it for something to start happening. I also understand writing in a time period, but I feel like some sensitivity could have been used in the vocab to keep way from more racial and outdated terms. I think there's got to be a way to be "authentic," but to also be respectful of people's humanity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Gaslighting, Bullying, Grief, Child death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Racism

Minor: Body horror, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, and Addiction

islajackson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I love the book so much 😭😭😭😭😭

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Mental illness

diannastarr's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-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? Yes

3.0

Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island chronicles U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels' four days investigating the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane.  It focuses on the narrator, Teddy Daniels', narrow perspective while on the hunt for inmate Rachel Solando: an acclaimed murderess who's escaped the premises.  Lehane's ability to curate the atmosphere is, by far, the strongest facet of this piece.  It is gritty, it's somber and he creates this ever looming dread for something that Teddy and you, the reader, can't quite identify but know deep down that it exists, it's there, and it's not going anywhere.  Personally, I found the novel's grand twist to be rather predictable, as

I saw the Rachel Solando's name and thought that it was curious how similar the name looked to Teddy's deceased wife, Dolores

but all in all, it was a good read and helped me pass the time.  A coworker actually wound up lending it to me and, like Teddy, I divided up the chapters into four days.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Murder, Vomit, and Child death