Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

10 reviews

cecilie26's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

2.0

Okay, I don’t know there is going to be spoilers so I’m just taking it on to be safe. 
Loved the book, though I didn’t fell in love with it as I did the first one. 
It was a bit boring at times, for my taste anyway. The only thing that is nagging the hell out of me, is why Nico and Tristan didn’t go to Fowler and make him take her back. Or if I have misunderstood something about them not know Fowler a powers then why not see if Fowler really were a time traveler so they then could use him to get her back instead of hoping that she would make a nuclear bomb. I don’t know if I have missed something that would explain it since I heard it on audiobook, and was doing something while listening to it. So that may explain why. Otherwise I found the book kind of unnecessary since the plot was really meh. The characters were fantastic.that was also why I read it to the end. Loved all the characters- kind of. Liked the first book much better than this one though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Murder, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Colonisation, and Panic attacks/disorders

lokes's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Gore, Sexism, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

mysterious 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

This was an amazing sequel, I loved it so much and I absolutely cannot WAIT for the next book!!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Murder and Alcohol

Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

clairew97's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Death, Cursing, Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Stalking, Child abuse, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Ultimately not impressed. I just finished 10 minutes ago and feel extremely disappointed. The first book left off with big implications for the second, but it feels like nothing really happened. There was too much internal monologue, too much 'miscommunication' trope, and too much emphasis on POVs that ultimately weren't necessary or interesting. The character alliances in the first book were thrown out on a flimsy plot point just to further the miscommunication between the group, which is the only fuel for plot progression. All of this I could have let pass (solely because I love the characters) if I felt it led to a pay-off, which it didn't.

The narrative of Tristan-Nico-Libby focuses on trying to get Libby back. It is Tristan's singular motivator of the book. And Nico's torment over her absence is obvious but his focus on Gideon helps his character progress. We get a glimpse of Libby and Tristan reuniting in Scotland. But in the end there's no climactic reunion between Libby and Tristan OR Libby and Nico. This was their entire plotline of the book and it was left open-ended. And not like a cliff-hanger, but in a way that I feel there was no climax at all. Part of this, again, is time spent on relationships which prove fruitless, like Belen-Libby, Ezra-Atlas. These POVs are not our main characters, and its just time spent away. There's too many characters and plotlines to juggle, and they are disproportionately balanced.

For me, what started out as a story with intriguing morally-grey characters, suspense and intrigue, eventually turned out to just be tedious and disappointing. Might read the next book for the reunion scenes mentioned in the spoilers. Might just Google it. And maybe I just forget. 

Edit 5 minutes after finishing the review: I just read my review of the first book and forgot to mention the increased amount of pseudointellectual bullshit in the internal monlogues. Way too much freshman 101 class theories and not enough character interaction to make up for the increased use of the miscommunication trope to keep the plot going. Honestly I had high hopes for this book...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

ttumbletree's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Violence, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Minor: Deportation, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Chronic illness, Classism, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug use, and Racism