Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

23 reviews

ashleymg99's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Holy. Shit. The ending. Everyone says the last 20 pages are crazy and my god, are they right. The payoff is insane. 

I literally got to the last few chapters and I went “ah I know where this is going”. No the fuck you don’t. You think you do, but you absolutely do not. 

All I can say is this book is crazy - between 2 unreliable narrators, time jumps, and secrets, it leaves you guessing until the end. The twist is unexpected in the best way, because it takes everything you thought you knew and turns it on its head. The ending bumps my star rating from like a 3 to a 3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Death, Alcohol, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Body shaming

ashleyalyse's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

I listened straight through this book in one day. It wasn’t until the last chapter, during the reveal, that I realized I had watched the Netflix series when it came out 😂

Truly enjoyed it (both times, technically). Would have appreciated a bit more diversity in the book, which the series tackles by making a Louise a Black woman. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Fatphobia, and Fire/Fire injury

lindseyrenee's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The first half to 2/3 was pretty slow and seemed like a dramatic soap opera with all the affairs and weird relationships. When the pace started to pick up though, I was completely hooked and needed to know answers to all my questions! The ending was one that I would have never guessed. I thought I had it nailed down with the second to last chapter and then the last one swooped in and shocked me even more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Stalking, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Moderate: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Honestly this was entertaining but it was also kind of boring at the same time. Nothing thrilling really happened so I kept wondering like what was gonna happen and what was the point. But the ending I did not see coming at all and I was shocked. I don’t know if I necessarily like it but I didn’t see it coming so there’s that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Abortion, Murder, and Stalking

lizziej96's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Abortion, Miscarriage, and Death

anne311's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

man

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming and Body horror

Minor: Abortion

katrinasherise's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Infidelity, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gaslighting, Body shaming, Drug use, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Drug abuse

Minor: Death, Abortion, and Death of parent

ashaye's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This. This is the book that got me out of a reading slump. I read this so fast. This is the book I have never shut up about. The way the POVs switch, the immediate with no warnings way that characters demeanors and tones change from friendly to absolutely cunning and mischievous. The constant cat and mouse and never knowing who to believe. Only for the second to last page to completely shock me beyond anything I have ever read. Pinborough’s mind is insane. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Murder

moderate spoiler

mikmocha's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

0.25

I was incredibly disappointed by this book…

The beginning was great, I was captured by the story and kept wanting to dive deeper in. There was a lot of fatphobia going on in the first 95% of the book. 

But the ending….WTF was that??? The book quite literally could have ended with Adele switching bodies with Louise and that be that. Rob could have remained as a side character and his murder be the reason why Adele would want to switch into Louise’s body- to absolve David of any crime, a fresh start for Adele in Louise’s body and refocus on their relationship. 

But no, in the last couple of pages the only gay character (which we don’t find that fact out until the very end) is now the villain??? Who not only killed actual Adele, killed actual Louise but is now also planning on killing Louise’s child?? Wtf? This is feeding into a lot of homophobic tropes that are quite damaging and harmful. 

I would not suggest this book and I’m not reading more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

abbs15norm's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, and Toxic friendship