Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

44 reviews

k04j1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Classism, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, and Emotional abuse

sunflowervol28's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape

j_ardis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This was incredibly hard to read. I was constantly hoping that somehow things would change for the better, but it only got worse. I'm still in shock. How can parents be so irresponsible and downright abusive? In a way it was difficult for me to understand why Jeannette Walls still loved her parents so much, but the way she described them in the books makes them seem really fascinating in a twisted sense. She never sugarcoats how their parents and other adults (and the system) failed them, but it's also very clear that she loves her parents and that she has many good childhood memories. 
I'm glad that all of the Walls children seem to be doing good. I also hope that Dinitia Hewitt is okay. I only found one article online and it seemed that at the time the police in Welch didn't believe her and knowing the American judicial system I don't have much hope in her having received any justice or help.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Addiction, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racism, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Mental illness, Cancer, Child death, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

mandi4886's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Violence

juliaastrid's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

It was so insanely good ??? The emotions I felt ???? The anger ??? The sadness ???? The joy???? This shit is so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault

Rex sucks so hard.

bingsdings's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Rape

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Child death and Homophobia

grizzlysnack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

A great book about reflecting on your past and dealing with the present and future as it comes to you in terms of family bonds. Very eye-opening and graphic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Abandonment

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Death, and Bullying

ginny16205's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

annemaries_shelves's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

One of my oldest TBR books and I'm so incredibly glad I finally picked this up. 

Walls has an incredibly rich talent for story-telling and displays immense vulnerability in sharing her family's story. 
Reading this 10 years after I first learned about it, I have more empathy for the parents and a better ability to understand the nuances and grey zones of parent-child relationships, the circumstances that lead to unstable, unsafe, and neglectful households, and the sheer luck it takes to dig yourself out of systemic poverty the way the Walls children did. 

That said, her parents are terrible parents in a lot of ways. You can tell they love their children and want to install certain values like independent thinking, self-reliance, and others. But this often comes at the cost of healthcare, safety, job and financial security, and others risks. While her parents clearly have some mental health issues and substance use disorders to varying degrees (though she doesn't speculate on this) a lot of the circumstances the Walls found themselves in were entirely preventable and manageable. And that infuriates me. 

I loved reading about the siblings' dynamics and their resourcefulness and determination to make the best of things - and get the hell out of Welch when they no longer could. I'd especially love to read Lori's story one day - she seems to have a unique experience within the family and I think it could resonate with a lot of people (or maybe it's just oldest children relatability for me).

I have two main critiques that could bring my rating down 0.5 stars (but won't because I loved the experience of reading this memoir to much).
1) The pacing was slightly off in the second half. Jeannette Walls devotes so much time to her early childhood, that we often skip significant portions of her teen years and young adulthood. She only discusses the highlights as compared to the substantial exploration of her childhood and set-up of their family dynamics. 
2) Being published in 2005 and set largely in the 60s and 70s there is some outdated language. This includes the R-word and racial slurs. 

Overall this is a wonderful and emotional memoir - I can understand why and how it's become a classic in the genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny