Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

93 reviews

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Body shaming, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Classism, Confinement, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, War, Animal death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, and Deportation

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

Upon reflection, this book lived up to its positive social media reputation. I was not expecting the darker themes that are woven throughout the story (abandonment, PTSD, sexual assault, adult/minor relationships) nor did I expect the consistent use of water and architecture analogies. While the FMC character arc was slightly predictable (

a damaged, meek woman finds her voice through further trauma 👍🏼

), I think it was done well, especially when compared to

Angharad’s story

. 

I thought the setting was beautiful and the world building was not overwhelming at all. The themes of colonization, classism, & religious separations were touched on, but were not overbearing. The mystery & folklore kept me intrigued, and I thought the romance was sweet (even though Preston will not be a favorite book boyfriend of mine). 

Unfortunately, I needed to dock .5 stars for the writing, especially in the first 100 pages of the book. While I think similes are helpful literary tools and can be beautiful, they are completely overdone in this text. The author cannot write one singular page of this book without comparing two things and using the word “like.” Try it - flip to any page and you will find a sentence that uses this structure. While I’m not a style critic, I could not ignore it and it tainted the opening of the story. I also found Effy to be quite insufferable, before I understood her trauma. Finally, while I know Preston is self-described as unromantic,

I wish their physical intimacy could’ve been sweeter. This could have been a deliberate choice from the author to denounce the romanticizing of losing one’s virginity, or it could’ve reflected Preston’s stoic nature, but I still wanted a little more from that scene.

All together, I think this is a beautiful story that weaves dark themes with stunning comparisons to the relentlessness of water. It teaches you that you are the only one who constructs the house in which you live, if you can be strong enough to hammer the stakes yourself. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Bullying, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Classism, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

midgereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

It took me an eternity but I finally finished this book and I really liked it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual harassment

bookish_slagathor's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.5

Great book dealing with feminist themes, with a dash of romance on the side (I'll be honest, I could have done without it, but it was okay to have it included in the story). Be aware that the setting is heavily misogynistic, and the MC is dealing with severe anxiety/panic attacks. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Misogyny, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Blood and War

mktraxel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

CAWPILE 4.8

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Rape, Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

midnightgarden's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

I’ve been steadily chipping away at NPR’s 2023 favorite books list. Starting to wonder why. There seem to be more I dislike than like, including this one. Yeah, heroine is great, but a lot of it is too contrived for me, and most of the characters are really despicable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

rachelblair's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying

anntharai's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

5.0

Jfc I went in with no expectations and only a vague idea of story as this was a reccomendation from a friend and they were right. I loved it and hated it and it made me super uncomfortable and angry as well as fired up and ready to go. I loved this reading experience. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Colonisation, Mental illness, Grief, Classism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Alcohol

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I have mixed feelings about this story. On one hand I thought the world building was very interesting and I enjoyed the setting of this crumbling house by the ocean. On the other hand.... I could not stand Effie and all her contradictions. So let's get into a few of them. 

1. Racism??? Effie "othered" Preston SO HARD. (I was listening to the audio book so I'm unsure if the narrator was saying Preston was Argatian or Argentinean. The reason I'm unsure as well is because the language that Preston spoke did not sound like Spanish but I don't know all the dialects of it so I could be wrong.) Regardless, she talked about Preston and his ethnicity USING ALL OF HIS ETHNICITY'S STEREOTYPES against him. In fact, everyone in the novel did so and when other people spoke about Preston like that Effie would get offended AS IF SHE HADN'T ALSO THOUGHT THE SAME THINGS. Preston was the only decent character in this novel and I hated the way Effie talked about him and how she said that she "always wanted him". No you didn't girl. You romanticized him so hard you forgot that you were being unfairly judgmental of a boy you barely know. 

2. Effie is such a damsel in distress and is not, in her own words, a "survivor". She went through some truly awful things from men in power but in that final scene where she defeats the Fairy King and then when she attempts to save Preston from drowning... she's not doing any of the actual work. The mirror she holds up does all the work in my opinion and then when she's trying to save Preston it's not even HER that does it. She has help from (I don't know how to spell her name) the wife. She was going to GIVE UP! Tell me how that is survivalist behavior? She was going to let herself and Preston drown if the wife hadn't come along. Which is why I don't think she had much of a character ARC at all. Even at the end when she, with the help of Preston, confronts the Dean of the university, I don't believe her when she decides to argue with him. It all falls so flat for me. 

3.WHY WERE THERE NO TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THIS BOOK. It talks HEAVILY about the abuse women suffer at the hands of men AND YET THERE WAS NO TRIGGER WARNINGS PAGE AT THE BEGINNING?!?! Make it make sense. I had no idea the book would talk this much about SA and if I had I could've prepared myself for that kind of mindset. As it stands, I struggled to get into this story and at some points I stopped paying attention. 

I thought this book would be a five but unfortunately I was mistaken. I don't think I'm going to read anything else by this author if this story was such a disappointment. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Misogyny