Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

4 reviews

tristanc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Ayamma. A ut li-en.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Outing

beldaran1224's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I finished this sequel with feelings very similar to the first book: I want to read more...but I don't. There is something very compelling about the world and the characters (especially the explorations of the means vs the ends. Despite this, I find myself very conflicted about the book - the narrative is so befuddled and deliberately obfuscated by the author that I find myself getting frustrated by it multiple times throughout the book. I understand why the author is obfuscating: in the first book, we're meant to be kept guessing about Baru's loyalties and in the second, we're meant to be kept guessing about whether she is merely dancing to Itinerant's plan or actually acting on her own...but it gets old.

That said, there's a lot to like here. The flashbacks and other perspectives, especially the ones for Tau-Indi, are exceptionally well done. I enjoy the way Dickinson uses Baru's injury as a method of narrative obfuscation, though I wish they had been less aggressive in doing so. The world gets broader and deeper in this book, too. I enjoy the way the text plays with

Baru's relationships with those around her, including Iraji, Tau-Indi, the diver and more.

I also enjoy the increasingly important question of whether Baru is compromised beyond hope and the exploration of

the opposing theories of empire put forth by Itinerant and Hesychast

.

Besides the obfuscation I mentioned above, there are a couple other gripes I have with the text. The first is that the plotting is a bit lackluster. The first novel was redeemed by an insanely compelling and heartbreaking ending, and this book's ending

just didn't leave me with the same impact or curious about the specific reveal that occurred

so much as leaving me hopeful that the final book will have a more propelling plot. I'm also not enjoying the character of

Tain Shir

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Colonisation, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Medical trauma, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Ableism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, Gore, Gaslighting, and Cancer

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization

lipstickitotheman's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

The writing got experimental in this one, compared to Traitor. I don't like it as much. Still very good, but this one didn't capture me as Traitor did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Cancer, Colonisation, Confinement, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexual content, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage

lighterthaneyre's review

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

3.75

I had a hard time getting through the first third, but the back two thirds were much more engaging.

This is another book emphasizing the importance of bonds between people. It's grimmer than others, because it's also interrogating imperialism and the bounds of utilitarianism. But I think it's setting up just a killer conclusion that I'm looking forward too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, and Gore

Minor: Homophobia, Cancer, and Sexual content