Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger

5 reviews

morethanmylupus's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Most of the time when I'm frustrated about the length of the book, it's because I think it would benefit from some editing to remove unnecessary fluff. This was a book that hit the other end of that spectrum. We get so little character development on most of the missing or dead women, let alone the main characters, that it was very hard to be invested in the mystery or the outcome. I figured out the answer nearly immediately so most of the book was me slogging through to find out if I was correct (spoiler - I was). This book is a lot of telling not showing, the character interactions felt clunky and forced, and all the M names added confusion not complexity. 

In the end, this had a lot of potential and I would consider picking up another book by this author, but this simply wasn't a favorite. 

 

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Violence, and Murder

kimveach's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

I enjoyed this mystery novella.  While I had a pretty good idea of who the murderer was, there was enough doubt that it kept me interested until the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, Blood, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Gore, Stalking, Child death, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

3.5

 Finished reading: December 14th 2023

“I know how you can miss something that's right in front of you.”

I mainly picked up this story because I needed an author starting with 'U' to complete the ABC Author challenge, but I tend to enjoy Lisa Unger's writing so it was by no means a chore to do so. I thought Christmas Presents was also quite fitting since we are currently in the holiday season... This turned out to be quite a quick and not that long read, and I would have probably finished it in an afternoon if I hadn't started a new crochet project and got distracted. I have a weak spot for stories with a podcast angle, so that was definitely a bonus here. I was also very much intrigued by the mystery around that night and the two girls still missing all those years later... The flashbacks to the teenage years weren't my favorite: I much preferred spending time in the present, although I do understand why these flashbacks were incorporated. What really put a damper on things though was that I guessed the truth about the disappearance of the two sisters and who was behind it very early on. The supposedly red herring was just too easy to guess, which was truly a shame. I could have done without the cheating, love triangle vibe and teen angst as well... But as a whole Christmas Presents was still entertaining enough and especially the second half is quite eventful. Just don't expect a complicated or nailbiting mystery, because the answers are mostly quite easy to guess. It's a good pick if you want to get in the holiday spirit and don't like reading Christmas romances though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Blood, Child death, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Stalking, and Violence

brookey8888's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This was good. It wasn’t anything mind blowing, but it was a fun enough time. I liked the romance aspect of it. It’s also not really that Christmas themed tbh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Kidnapping, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Murder

markedwithanm's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence