Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Shadows by Alex North

5 reviews

bxnnny's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.0

i read the whisper man a few months before reading this one and i ultimately liked this one much better. i didn't find this story as predictable and i was much more intrigued by the story and mystery. both books are set in the same universe but this one isn't a direct sequel - you can read them each independently of one another. the lucid dreaming bits were interesting and the twists were decent but not amazing. i liked the flashes to the past that piece the whole puzzle together gradually throughout the book, but also felt that some of it was slower-paced than i would have liked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, and Suicide

Minor: Gaslighting, Animal death, and Child abuse

blackcatkai's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.5

CW: casual ableism, blood, violence, murder, child death, suicide, infidelity, addiction mentioned, alcohol/drug use, violence, gaslighting, toxic friendships, gore, trauma, abuse/bullying

I started reading this one with such hope, and i was enjoying it initially, but as it continued i found myself bored and could not stay engaged. there was both too much going on and yet nowhere near enough. a big issue, for me, were too many characters that all felt flat and too similar, and too many time skips back and forth. i also feel the detective parts could have been completely cut out and the story would've been much better. her povs just felt like a way to make the book longer and i am not a fan.

a couple of the twists in the end were pretty decent overall, but we get fade to black in a big action end scene that felt so disappointing. i was overall underwhelmed and i wish i wasnt. still going to check out other books by North, but this one was an absolute miss for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Gore, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Addiction

thetruthatallhazards's review against another edition

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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death and Death of parent

caseyemorgan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture

book_banter's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

I didn’t see the twist coming so that was great! I did find the characters a bit flat, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death