Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Starfish by Lisa Fipps

8 reviews

axolotl13's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Fatphobia

readandfindout's review

4.5

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

kyrstin_p1989's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.5

So beautifully written I forgot it’s a children’s book. I laughed and cried as Ellie learned to navigate the world and all the hatefulness of others in a bigger-than-average body. This book shows us all how we could stand to be just a little bit kinder to those who are different than ourselves. As a person who has always been fat, this book resonated with me in so many ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, and Body horror

ashylibrarian's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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? No

5.0

Wow...This book hit hard in all the right yet emotional ways. 

Ellie has spent her life being fat-shammed by her peers, doctors, and even her own family. This has taken a toll on her in so many ways. The only place Ellie feels comfortable, confident, and weightless is in her swimming pool. She has a connection with water that brings her joy and peace while the rest of the world races by.

I absolutely HATED Ellie's mom in all the ways I think the author intended. She was awful in the things she said, the things she did, and the ways in which she saw, or rather didn't see, Ellie. The diets, the surgeries, the doctors. Ellie's mother never stopped to ask what Ellie needed and instead just pushed upon her what she, the mother, wanted. 

To hear that her mother and brother were embarrassed to be seen with her broke my heart. To hear the names Ellie's peers called her broke my heart. But to watch Ellie grow and rise up through these clouds with the help and support of a therapist and friends was a transformation I absolutely NEEDED to read about. 

I will absolutely always be recommending this book to all the readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Body shaming

Moderate: Eating disorder and Emotional abuse

sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

tmcphetridge4's review

emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

This book was a severe punch to the gut and a warm hug. I have been recommending this since the moment I finished it. I feel like this book tore out my heart and looked at it's depths and said, "You are perfect". I'm not quite sure how to recommend this book, because it is incredibly tense for a middle grade read. But I can't imagine NOT sharing it. Ellie's story was relatable, but utterly devastating. And the whole thing written in verse? It made for an extremely fast read that I could not put down. Seriously one of he best books that I read this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Medical trauma and Gaslighting

heytherekaity's review

challenging emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Torture, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Fatphobia

foreverinastory's review against another edition

emotional medium-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

4.5

Wasn't expecting to relive all my middle school feels but that's what happened.

Rep: white Christian-Jewish fat female MC, Mexican-American female side character, white female side character, Jewish male side character, Mexican-American family side characters.

CWs: Fatphobia (like so so much), bullying, child/emotional abuse, gaslighting, body shaming, racism.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Racism