Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

80 reviews

docteur_casoar's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The dialogue/family drama was so relatable/accurate. It dragged after about 40% through though. Probably could have used some more editing. Nothing really scary, but definitely spooky! I enjoyed it. Looooved the first half, though.

Maybe could have used some more unreliable narrator toward the end to make it more twisty?

But seriously. Fuck that entire family. Except the kids. They’re great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

kb_sherman's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Abortion

Minor: Biphobia

marsreadsthings's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

artemismoon057's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion

bites_of_books's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

---

This is one of those books where we follow unlikeable characters all the way through. Once I accepted that, I was able to dive deeper into the story and it became more enjoyable. We follow Anna as she embarks on a vacation in the Italian countryside with her truly awful family. Many times I questioned why she was even there in the first place! 

Nevertheless, she remains in the vacation, trying to follow her older sister's strict schedule and focusing on her nieces. As the vacation starts and continues it becomes clear that there's more to this villa than what was advertised in the website. 

I liked that Anna was unapologetically herself throughout, even though she did bite her tongue a lot of the time around her family. She's already seen as weird and an outsider by them so it seems like she doesn't want to give them more reasons to cast her out. 

The part that I wasn't satisfied with was the Italian context. I felt like there could have been more about the community but they mostly remained in the shadows, putting the American tourists at the forefront. All of them mostly want nothing to do with them (for good reason), but I needed just a bit more from their perspective, maybe one or two chapters from their point of view would have sealed it for me as a solid 4 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

shaunashares's review against another edition

4.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Abortion

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

auntkat86's review against another edition

3.0

dark 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Self harm, Gaslighting

nad_books623's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Wow this book was amazing. It’s very creepy, but I could still tolerate it enough to finish the book. The descriptions and the writing style are perfect for this type of story. I could definitely see this being turned into a movie.

I think that the emotional abuse from her family was a part of the horror. Also, omg idk who’s worse her sister or brother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Abortion, Murder

Minor: Self harm

ashlesschaps7's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse