Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Coworker by Freida McFadden

21 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I was enjoying this book until the last chapter before the epilogue. It was like the author gave up on the story. There was so much more I was expecting it would unravel. Big disappointment!, especially given hopes many of the McFadden’s other books I really liked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

shesflippinpages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Murder, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Suicide, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Infertility

solnit_and_sebastian's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just when you think you know what's happening, McFadden spins another surprise into the story! Characters and motives continue to evolve throughout The Coworker, giving mystery fans fodder for guesswork. One thing I appreciate about this author's characterizations is that no one is entirely blameless, lending an element of realism to the proceedings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Bullying, and Death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Cursing, Suicide, Infertility, and Sexual content

_meganrose's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

hermithebs's review

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Suicide

priscillarobock's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Grief, Mental illness, and Murder

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

Idk about this book. Although I did feel like there were many twists and the general story was interesting, some of the twists were a bit predictable and I didn’t like Dawn’s portrayal.

I liked the way the story was written switching perspectives and timelines somehow didn’t get confusing and made revealing things more impactful. Dawn is portrayed as “weird” and “strange” and “quirky” when really she displays autistic tendencies.

I don’t know how I feel about her being murderous and hell -bent on revenge. The only twists that really surprised me were Caleb being Mia’s sister, Mia being dead, and Natalie faking the threats at first. I also thought the affair was going to play a bigger role.

.

I’m torn on some aspects of this book but it wasn’t bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, Blood, Murder, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Suicide, Death, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

oliviamichelle_'s review

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Gaslighting

spootilious's review

dark slow-paced

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

 

Read: September 25, 2023
 Title: The Coworker 

Author: Freida McFadden
 Genre: Mystery
 Rating: 0/5
 Review: 

I’ve been trying to think of something good to say about this book. I really have. The closest thing I can say is that it wasn’t entirely predictable. The ‘plot twist’ wasn’t too surprising and most of the plot holes were tied up…. But that’s as far as I can go with nice things to say. 

To start off, the writing style is extremely immature. It almost feels like I’m reading a fifteen-year old’s first attempt at a thriller novel. I’ve noticed that many people think that it’s due to the main character’s personality and I’m happy that like it, however, with the main characters being so one dimensional I can’t agree. 

Natalie is written like a stereotypical B*mbo (I apologize for my choice of words, but it was the best descriptor I could think of), and Dawn is written like the only autistic representation the author has ever experienced is Rain man. The only personality traits are the Nat is considered pretty and Dawn really likes turtles. Honestly it made me want to vomit. 

Surprisingly enough the only characters in the entire book that didn’t seem one dimensional were the men… and even then, only barely. 

The way the office was written made it obvious that the author has no experience with an office environment and the way the police work was written was sloppy and seemed to have no research done whatsoever (though I may be a bit bias, having worked Law Enforcement). 

Fifteen minutes into this novel and I knew I was going to despise it, though I did my best not to, I haven’t found a decent reason to feel otherwise. Overall, the storytelling was boring and flat, the characters were detestable and dull, and the ‘thriller’ part of the book maybe lasted 3-4 minutes before being utterly ruined by the fact that there is not a single redeeming quality to any of the characters, and the terrible, grotesque, and dehumanizing representation of autism in this novel makes me sick to my stomach. I would have called it quits on this novel but wanted to give it a complete chance and finished it… which only made my distaste worst. 

I feel terrible having to write such a terrible review and giving the lowest (though I wish I could go lower) review I have ever provided but felt even worse as I was reading. 

Minor TW: Death, Self-harm, Vomit, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Blood, Ableism, Bullying, Child Death, Emotional Abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking 

 Quotes: 

N/A 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Ableism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Cursing, Grief, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Confinement

serene216's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Bullying, and Self harm