Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

12 reviews

jainabee's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

The story is a very sweet and fun teen romance romp, even as it weaves in very serious and challenging themes and topics. Nuanced characters emerge through confronting their own presumptions about each other and about themselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Vomit, Racism, Addiction, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Minor: Kidnapping, Cursing, Abandonment, Biphobia, and Cultural appropriation

Remarkably realistic and accurate portrayal of rape, dissociation, gaslighting, addiction, and moving through various stages of trauma. The challenging material is handled with great care and shows healthy, functional family and community responses to trauma.

a_l_reads's review

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Racism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, and Homophobia

frantic_vampire's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

4.5

This book was not what I expected it to be. I thought I was getting one thing and ended up with something completely different. And that’s the thing I liked about it the most. It just grabbed me by the hand and wouldn’t let me go until the very end.

I felt so much for both Max and Jordan. For different reasons, but damn did this book go after my feelings every chance it got. I really liked that this dealt with a whole host of different issues, from mental illness and shitty parents to the aftermath of rape and consent. And none of it felt like it was forced or out of place in this story. Sure, there were some things that could have been handled a little better, but I felt like this book did a really great job getting its point across.

Over all this was a really great read and I would highly recommend it! This is getting a four and a half stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Rape, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

davidbythebay's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

An emotional story touching upon several difficult topics, this was a beautiful exploration of youth, coming of age, and being gay. When two gay boys take over a food truck for the summer, the story looks likes its going to be a sweet unknown/enemies to lovers trope. And it sort of is. But it's more about realizing what our boundaries are, how to communicate, the strength in speaking your truth and in supporting others' truths, and coping with significant trauma. It's about speaking what you want and having someone listen to it and abide by it. Boundaries are the key theme of this book and it handles them beautifully. Really, a sweet read that spoke volumes in a matter of pages. 

TW: parent death, grief, addiction, gambling, rape, sexual assault, gaslighting, bullying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Addiction, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Homophobia and Vomit

ranjanireviewsreads's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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

Ever wondered what it feels like to grow up? During, it's difficult to differentiate one moment from another. In hindsight, it might be easy to merge memories. 

The Music of What Happens is what I would recommend if you want the answer to that question. Bill Konigsberg uses witty, snappy language with hidden heartfelt moments to authentically portray the joy, misery, loneliness, and connection felt in the late teen years. Growing up gay, biracial, lonely; it's not something everyone can understand, much less wonder about. 

Heartfelt, real, and incredibly beautiful; The Music of What Happens is a reflection of the teenage experience of coming of age, falling in love, and figuring out how to be your own person. A must read for the young adult contemporary reader.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Addiction, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, and Homophobia

Minor: Racial slurs, Vomit, Racism, Grief, and Body shaming

riella_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

3.5

 This was a lot more emotional and hard hitting than I originally expected. This hit hard on "light" homophobia and racism, where friends and family are making jokes about gay sex and how the main character isn't brown even though he's Mexican. Some parts were actually pretty hard to listen to, and there were lots of trigger warnings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

aimhkaitlin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

2.75

The author heavily relied on the third act save that fixed a lot of the plot issues and problematic behaviors and thought patterns that bothered me consistently throughout the book. I think the first-person narrative allowed for a lot of the problematic elements to go unquestioned for far too long and lacked a level of condemnation that I believe should be the responsibility of an accountable YA writer. (Negative thoughts patterns not being questioned, gaslighting, etc.) Covers a lot of heavy and sensitive topics, that I could see being impactful to the right reader but to be effective this book needs to be finished in its entirety before the benefits can be reaped. This worries me for any vulnerable reader who does not finish it and instead is left with the lack of resolution that occurs in the final chapters and the critical accountability for multiple characters and actions. An okay read but left me with concerns. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual violence

reads_cats's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent

sophiewho's review against another edition

reflective

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

rosage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

1.0

my high school self would have loved this book. however it’s is very much trauma bonding and their whole relationship is built bc of their two personal traumas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship