Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

26 reviews

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. His punishment? And his reward." —Oscar Wilde, The Critical as Artist

Undeniably beautiful writing in a turn of the century fairytale that is groundedly gritty and soaringly ethereal. I don't care for circuses, but it was the exact right venue for this story. This one didn't knock me off my feet quite as much as The Starless Sea, which I read first and with no expectations. Partly, I think, because I wasn't as enamored with Marco as I maybe was supposed to be and I wasn't as satisfied with the ending here, but mostly because:
"The finest of pleasure are always the unexpected ones." 

Definitely recommend for fans of The Starless Sea and Alix Harrow's Ten Thousand Doors of January.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol and Abandonment

Abuse of magic/violation of personal agency: stealing memories, advancing by magically enhanced charm and looks

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

jayfanboi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

dkayayay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I might have just read this at the wrong time and wrong place but it didn't captivate me as much as I was hoping. It didn't keep my interest for long as I kept on reading and I didn't care all that much about the characters.

My favorite part about the book would be the circus itself and the writing. The circus, with its many wondrous attractions, was the only thing that really captured my attention. The writing overall of this book was stunningly intricate and atmospheric.

Maybe with another re-read, with the right mood, I might enjoy it more than I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

spookily's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, and Sexual content

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

March 5, 2012
March 26, 2014

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicide, Death, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Car accident, Dementia, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual content, Animal death, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexism

torimc's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

eloiseisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

unoriginalinspiration's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

 
“Secrets have power. And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them. Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it. So it's really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.”

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Character death, Parental abuse

Review:
This is a beautiful story filled to the brim with magic and romance. This story, told over multiple timelines, might be a little difficult to follow but it ties together so well. The magical realism, the visual imagery, the intrigue and the pace of the book were just some things that really appealed to me. I feel like an extra element of gore would've given this book so much more character. To be honest, I don't have much to say that hasn't been said already. This was an amazing read :) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, and Torture