Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

8 reviews

mxpringle's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

2.75

One day maybe I will find a horror novel that doesn't include queer people and women without demonizing and/or victimizing them. I thought it was solidly enjoyable in terms of the writing, but I feel like a lot of the plot and topics explored are tropes that have been overdone, such as Southern small town murders, hitchhikers, etc., though these were intermingled with a few really cool new ideas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Murder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Sexual harassment, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Body horror, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

reggiethebird's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

4.0

I cannot imagine someone reading this book and thinking "You know what, I want people to experience all this on the big screen." This is one of the most grimy books I've ever read, like "I want to take a shower after reading it" type filthy. I'm not sure there is a good person in all 261 pages who isn't either raped, killed, raped then killed, or killed then raped. This is a book where a bunch of bad people do bad things to other bad people for a whole 3 or 4 intersecting plot arcs. If that's the type of story you like, go for it. If you have any triggers at all, probably skip this one. It's a very ugly tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Blood, Violence, Rape, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, Transphobia, Torture, Abandonment, Infidelity, Body shaming, Cursing, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Ableism

Minor: Cancer, Gaslighting, War, Dementia, Stalking, Car accident, Slavery, and Vomit

rtthalia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, War, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, and Alcoholism

voilajean's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Vomit, and Gaslighting

Minor: Fatphobia

damolaarin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Incest, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

sharbison's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cancer, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Pregnancy

qi_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

wowowow. this was fucking good. 

i appreciate how well plotted the story line seemed to be. everything made sense together and donald ray pollock didn't feel the need to throw out a random, nonsensical twist in the name of shock value. although the means that i had a pretty strong hunch about where the story would be going it still was able to shock me due to the writing and how he depicts such scenes. 

the writing was gritty and blunt which i love. some of these scenes are written in such a matter-of-fact way which just leaves you feeling like you like D: 

the characters were well written and felt very dynamic. even "bad" characters *cough cough arvin* i still felt like rooting for and you are just left with mixed emotions. 

part five was definitely the part where i had the biggest emotional reactions to the text, i am reluctant to say my favourite part because yikes. if you are looking for some small town, gritty horror i would highly recommend but dO LOOK UP TRIGGER WARNINGS! 

as you can tell by this spotty review i don't know how to formulate my thoughts properly. so, great way to nurse the morning after my second dose of the vaccine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

sphealrical's review

dark sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion and Transphobia