Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

42 reviews

sisters26's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Pinky Promise ❤️‍🩹

This is such an important book for the LGBTQ+ Youth. It's heartbreaking but so hopeful at the same time. It was really well written and the main character were so relatable. 
Note that few passages were really hard to read but reflect a (sad) reality.

I wish all the best. 💜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Violence

peachani's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Mental illness, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Gaslighting, Medical content, Vomit, Dysphoria, and Physical abuse

elskabee's review

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

 You know it's good if I finished in less than 24 hours. I don't have a lot to say because there's no plot, just 300 pages of our nonbinary main character getting therapy and making friends. I think teens who are reading this might get more out of it than I did, which gives it some extra points in my rating.

I will note that the start is ROUGH. Take care of yourself if you read this because it opens with the main character coming out to their family and it going horribly wrong. Though the details are sparse, it still made me feel quite anxious reading it. There's also a lot of description of the main character having anxiety and panic attacks, especially with dissociation. They're very realistic (at least to my own experiences) so again, be careful. That said, I think that stuff being in there is good. There's a time and place for purely wholesome queer books, and then there's these that speak to the painful reality of being trans for many.

I expected it to be more of a romance going in, but I'm not disappointed that that was a fairly minor aspect. It's a heart-warming story of a kid's world being shattered and them learning how to pick up the pieces and as several of the blurbs say, I think this book can change and save lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Transphobia

Moderate: Gaslighting and Dysphoria

Minor: Religious bigotry and Homophobia

there's a lot of misgendering in the book, most of it is not purposeful (either accidental from people who are learning, or people who aren't aware as the character isn't out to many people for most of the book)

aexileigh's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia

lyd41's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

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

2.75

Dialogue was terribly written and insufferable to read and also very out of character at times but I still liked the premise of the book. Plot was fun. Although cheesy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts

bookishdaylight's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

4.0

This was a big warm hug that I needed! I was so touched and inspired by a lot of the characters that were present in the story. I loved the pacing and the excellent representation of aspects of being a nonbinary. 
There were so many heart-warming moments and essential topics of coming out which our main character Ben struggled with. I cherish the moments when he had the confidence to adjust to so many new situations and people. He was such an inspiration!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Mental illness

leni_cant's review against another edition

emotional hopeful relaxing fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse and Dysphoria

Minor: Medical content, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

kjn1329's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Cursing, Homophobia, Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Biphobia

theinfinitebookcase's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I had high expectations for this book since I see it so frequently recommended, but I admit I was disappointed. The plot was all right but a bit boring, and the characters just were not memorable. Though I sympathized with Ben, they were truthfully not a very likable or interesting character. To be honest, I still can't figure out why Nathan liked them despite the way they treated Nathan so poorly for a large part of the book. I did enjoy reading about Ben repairing their relationship with their sister and the two of them helping each other through coping with their toxic family. It was okay, but not much stood out as particularly memorable and to be honest, it is not a book I would recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Dysphoria

sam_crl's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

I don’t even know where to begin. I feel like this book was written about me or at least inspired by my life because I don’t think I‘ve ever related to a character as much as I relate to Ben. If I‘d had this book years ago, my life would probably look very different.
I knew I would probably like this book because of its premise but I never thought it would hit me quite so hard. Ben is just so similar to me in almost every aspect that I felt their pain way too hard. I cried more than once and I almost never cry when reading, so that‘s something to consider.
Seeing someone like me, a queer non-binary teen who struggles with mental disorders, find love and friends and people who make them happy made me so emotional because I realized that this was the first time I‘d actually seen something like that in books. It felt like the author looked into my mind and brought the thoughts to paper in the form of this book.
I can sincerely say that this book changed my life and I thank Mason Deaver with all my heart for writing it because it made me believe that people like me can actually have a life worth writing stories about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Dysphoria, Outing, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Islamophobia