Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

71 reviews

ashboutiette's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

booksandstardust's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Murder, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Gore

jessthemess8112's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious 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

3.5

I found this book to be enjoyable right from the beginning. It makes you excited for the main characters to get away from their own island and experience the excitement that Caraval holds. The writing was a little juvenile, and it felt like the author made it her personal mission to ensure every color was mentioned somewhere in the book. The ending also left something to be desired and kind of felt like a cop out.  I know there are 2 more books that hopefully wrap things up. However, if I hadn't known this,  I would've been extremely let down with the way this book ended.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Violence, Blood, and Death

mysterious_and_spooky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I feel like I can see what the vision was for this book, but it's pulled off in a very clunky sort of way. It was very much a story that was happening to the main character, not even that she had much say in what was happening. Which made for a frustrating read. Tbh it felt like published fan fiction for Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. But I did see what the vision was, but I don't think it was quite executed effectively. I'm not really interested in continuing. 3.5 stars DNF series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

kaylokay_'s review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

I don't mind a predictable plot as long as it is done well. But every time I thought I knew exactly where this was going, I was wrong. In a good way. I loved the seamless interweaving of diversity in this book, which is an accurate reflection of Latin culture. I can't wait to get to the bottom of this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Grief and Murder

estellec13's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed it but I felt it dragged on too much in the middle. The last 100 pages were so good so I would still recommend it and I will read thé next one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

seren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Kidnapping, Blood, Violence, and Domestic abuse

booknerdcoco's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Overall, I really enjoyed this boom. I loved the Carnival/magic theme. And found it refreshing.

I found the mysterious element intriguing, and it made me want to continue reading whenever I had a free moment.

Though it is far from a typical fairytale due to the themes, I was drawn to the innocence of the FMC.

My only downside: I felt like the ending dragged out a little. But this certainly won't deter me from reading the rest of the trilogy.

Plot: 5/5
Spice: 0/5
Book boyfriend: 3/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Violence

naluminum's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Garber uses rich descriptions and imagery in this novel. I was always on the edge of my seat because the MC was thrown into an unexpected quest in Caraval that was mentally challenging and tested her wits, bravery, trust, and love for her sister (who was the one who dragged her out to compete in Caravel in the first place). TBH, the female MC was annoyingly stubborn in her thinking and refused to accept guidance from those who tried to help her, but she came through stronger than expected.  The plot twists were unexpected which I liked, but I didn’t love any of the characters though I enjoyed the mystery aspect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Emotional abuse and Sexual harassment

amelia_horseman's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Grief, Blood, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail