Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

36 reviews

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

I don't really like horror, so I was really hesitant going into this book, and only read it for a book club. But I'm glad I did; though it was definitely dark and at times upsetting, it was also really good. I was fascinated by what was happening, and some of the twists really got me. This is the second book I've read by this author and I definitely think I'll look into their other work. 

Also, vague spoilers for the ending, but

I was pleasantly surprised by how happy the ending was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicide

laura_tofflemire's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Sorrowland is a science fiction horror novel. I felt unsettled the entire book, which is one thing I look for in a horror novel. It was a bit slower paced and more emotional than I usually read, but overall was well done. 

It was hard to picture the main character as the age she was (started at 15, end of the book was just a couple years later) because so much happened and it felt she was written more as a 20 year old in terms of maturity. However, she went through a lot, so she did have to grow up very quickly (pregnant at 15, escaping a cult, etc). Some of her responses and actions were beyond what you’d expect from a teenager. 

Overall, I do recommend the book if you like sci fi and horror. It’s a very original book from a non binary Black author and makes you think about impacts of institutionalized racism and history of medical experiments on Black people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

susanknights's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

manicventure's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Intensely interesting read. Everytime I thought I knew where the story was going to always took a hard right, only for me to have all the clues and foreshadowing staring me right in the face. The author did an absolutely amazing telling of a strong -willed young women surviving the unique circumstances of her traumatic childhood and upbringing in a possible cult...but with Jeff Vandermeer twist. I admit I'm conflicted with the main character Vern. In so many ways she is written brilliantly and is an obvious outcome of her past experiences and sheer natured will...however at the same time I found it hard to call her "likable " which I do think is the authors whole point. She does have some growth and a self enlightened moment of understanding her lack of "emotional immaturity". Otherwise, you want it; it's in this book. POC rep? Check. LGBTQ+? Check. Strong female lead? Check. Drama? Check. Romance? Check. Spooky/supernatural occurrences? Check. Possible government cover ups? Check!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

solenekeleroux's review

dark informative mysterious reflective tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

k_meredith's review

challenging dark sad tense

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

Ok, first things first.  This book is excellent.  The story and characters are well written, and it's a deep book.  Lots of super difficult themes that are addressed so well in the story.  It's an intentionally confusing book, but that is successful-- you feel so off balance reading it in a way that really grounds you in Vern's internal narrative.  That said, I have a lot of trouble with body horror, and specifically fungus.  Like, a lot of trouble.  Mexican Gothic pushes my limits (and I'm new to horror in general, still kind of dipping a toe in.) I get the symbolism and the function of the fungus; it's an absolutely incredible and effective narrative device. But I had to break this book into much smaller chunks than normal because the more viseral passages are....lets say robust.  It ended up working out well because I will burn through a book and then have to think about the themes all at once at the end, and I couldn't with this book.  So, great book, but be aware if body horror is a struggle for you as well--just up your reading time estimate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Racism, Blood, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Pregnancy

hairymclary28's review

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

esmithumland's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a new favorite book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

odrib's review

challenging dark sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Car accident

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

"How come white folks were always telling Black people to get over slavery because it was 150 or so years ago but they couldn't get over their Christ who died 1,830 years before that?"

If that isn't the million dollar question, I don't know what is, hah. Sorrowland was a tough book to read. It was hard in the sense that there were a lot of intertwining heavy topics, and it's not for the faint of heart (major content warning for body horror). They presented the United States' dark history and the treatment of Black people (and, to no one's surprise, it's violent). Solomon also briefly touched on this country's position as colonizers, reminding us of the violence that Black and Indigenous peoples have faced.

However, another hard aspect of this book for me was getting invested in the story. Solomon is a phenomenal storyteller, and they presented a well-developed and deeply disturbing world through the eyes of their protagonist, Vern. I can't quite place my finger on what it was that failed to pull me into the story, though. I'm inclined to say that it was awkward pacing and a sometimes vague plot. There were instances when I couldn't quite tell where Solomon wanted to take the reader, though maybe that was the purpose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide