Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Ti ritroverò, Adeline by H.D. Carlton

123 reviews

lscholling's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

beth_waller97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Had me in the first half ngl

After the 60% mark it just gets unhinged, story stops existing and it’s just pure sex - which is fine, but bro I was enjoying the story so much 

Spice is spicier than a ghost chilli, story was great until it wasn’t, pretty decent easy to binge book 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

liber_draconis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳.“

✩✩✩✩.25

🌶️🌶️🌶️ 

*DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE THE TWs*

This was a hard one to read, at least for the first half. Reading the trigger warnings, I knew what I was getting into, but it didn’t make it any easier. It’s taken me a couple of days to process this one to do a review, but here we are. 

So Zane is as dangerous as they come and his pathway of destruction to get Addie back after her being taken at the end of the first book. Adeline’s growth during the book to becoming the survivor she is, was inspiring and heartbreaking. I’m thankful for how Zade went about approaching her and her healing, and didn’t push when he shouldn’t. 

I’m thankful the duet ended with all the good vibes, I just with they took down the “ring leader” differently?? I felt like it was a bit anticlimactic or a bit rushed. But did they deserve to go out the way they did, 100%! And I’m glad Adeline became a part of the hunt. 

*Also, the note in the mailbox at the end, just *chef’s kiss* 💋 

Dark themes are found within this book, you’ve been warned:

🔪Abduction

🔪Rescue

🔪Blood Play

🔪Dual POV

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Blood, and Trafficking

Minor: Gaslighting

gembev's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

alittlehasty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

naaytaashreads'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Our mouths are touching the same spot,” she says shakily. “Does that count as kissing?”

“You tell me, little mouse. When I make you cry out for God, does that count as praying?”

The sequel blows my mind.
How was this so FUCKING good.
I thought the first one gave me so much adrenaline, but this one gave me an explosion.
I speed-read this in two days; that's how invested I was in wanting to know what's next, what's happening and how it will end.

Trigger warning, if you read the first book, you know how dark this book can get.
However, in this one, the first half of the book centres around sexual assault, abuse, rape, violence, injury, blood, death, killing and more.
While the second half deals with PTSD, trauma, disease, more violence and sex content of the course.
So, be warned.

While the first half of the book was heartbreaking to read.
It was important for Adeline's character growth and discovery in the second half.
She is by herself getting kidnapped, trapped in the house with these men and being done so much disgusting shit to her; she herself is in survival mode and how it keeps her sane and changes her later on.
Hence, why the first half was kind of a slow burn, as I feel like it was built up to the second half.

I love the different and new personality we get in understanding Zade.
How his mind works, we see his emotions more and understand how he loves Adeline in his dark ways. It was also a character growth for him.

In the second half, we learn and see the changes in Adeline, how her trauma has changed her and how in her way, she is healing together with the people around her, especially her relationship with Zade. It was raw, honest, and dark but such an important topic to talk about, and I feel like H.D Carlton did a good job writing it while intertwining it with the dark plotline, making it naturally addictive.

I love that while in such dark times, we still get the cat and mouse plotline concept.
It brings me such adrenaline, and the newer grown version of the character gave me a new outlook on their relationship and how they have to relearn to love the new version of themselves with each other.

By the end of it, I JUST NEED MORE.
There were so many romance quotes by both of them I DIED.


“Zade may be Hades, but the dark God has never been known to bow for anyone but his woman.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

blueee7777's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

this was way better than the first. FL got kidnapped a raped and abused but gets saved and becomes a badass. it’s very dark and has a lot of violence and knife stuff. it was okay i like that he is obsessed but they do a lot of pain stuff that i don’t like. overall not horrible and i read it in 3 days. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

anastashamarie's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.75

3.75/5. I really struggled with a review and rating for this one. I feel like a high rating means that I recommend this book, which I can't necessarily say that I do. I didn't like most of it. However, it gripped me hard, and I flew through it. It tugged at my emotions with such complexity. So I do appreciate it for what it was, and this is what I settled on. But first...

⚠️ Please, for the love of God, heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of this book. The sexual violence, regular violence/torture, and emotional pain throughout this book are all incredible detailed and gruesome. This tips the needle toward vantablack on the darkness scale, and I think it could be damaging for a lot of people if they aren't properly prepared.⚠️

If the first book is a top-rated professional haunted attraction, this one was McKamey fucking Manor. 🏚️🕷️ Something that I, as a major horror fan, would get sucked into, but then wonder "wtf did I do that for?" Haunting Adeline (#1) was an intense, dark story but at its core, but it still felt safe. Uncomfortable at times, fairly violent, but still alluring and still controlled. Hunting (#2) most definitely is not like that. I've seen other reviewers call it unhinged, and that's a good descriptions. I would also describe it as disturbing, painful, and real-life scary. 

"Part One" of this was especially difficult to read. The author said she was trying to acknowledge the genuine horror of human trafficking, and this definitely makes you feel all of the fear, sadness, and confusion that's appropriate if that was her goal. But honestly, I think it was a little too well-done which takes me to my biggest issues with this book. 

😖 First, I felt like I had to emotionally dissociate so hard from the first half of the book that the second half just seemed flat and a little ridiculous to me. If you've ever been a part of any adrenaline-inducing event, traumatic or not, you know that the effects of the cortisol can only really affect you for so long. Eventually your nervous system levels out, and you just sort of go numb. Not that you don't care, but the feelings get blunted so that you can move instead of being stuck in crisis. Since this book is so long, I hit that numb point right around the time that Addie and Zade reunited. Though this definitely helped me to relate to Addie, it didn't make for the reading experience I had hoped for, especially with how enjoyable the first one was beginning to end.

🤨 Second, I can't help but put my therapist hat on here, and say that the "healing" part of Addie's journey did not seem realistic or healthy. I get it, this is a dark romance where he fell in love with her stalker, it's not supposed to be healthy. But if we are going to go for emotional realism for the terrible stuff Addie faced, let's go for emotional realism for the recovery as well. I wish there was more showing of the easing into normal life that she and Zade needed to do. I wish that there was more of a focus on Addie and Zade BOTH growing from this experience together and growing closer, not just that Addie changed. There was a lot of justifying how Zade was better/different than the people who kidnapped and abused Addie. Though I'm okay with the dark relationship that Zade and Addie had, it almost felt like the human trafficking plotline existed to show that that Zade "wasn't that bad" instead of him really examining how he could also be different/better.

(Also, please don't try to brute force yourself or your partner to just do things that feel scary or uncomfortable one of you is traumatized. It will do more harm than good.)

🌹 But then this book turns around in Part Two, after all the trauma, and gives me such interesting development for Addie. I'm a sucker for a training-to-literally-murder-your-demons empowerment arc. The humor comes back that I loved in the first book. The spicy scenes are still A+ work.

Idk man, this book put me through the wringer. Read it if you can handle it, I guess? But also maybe schedule time for self-care after the fact. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Slavery, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Please read the content warnings at the beginning on the book. This is a very graphic, disturbing story with great detail of trauma the main character faces

raiderqueen23's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

imogencooper20's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail