Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

41 reviews

dontforgetthelights's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

corruptednatz's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

Very messed up book. I can’t even say much or I’ll spoil it. But there’s so many twist and turns that makes the story interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Incest, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Car accident

hayleyvharrington's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

rachelcox's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

I did not enjoy this book at all.  The first half was okay, but the second half kept getting more and more grim with every chapter.  I'm giving this book 1 star because I can see how someone who really likes Gothic horror and really dark content could like this book, but it just wasn't for me.  If you're thinking about reading this book, please tread carefully, as it contains a lot of disturbing and potentially triggering content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape and Car accident

mkaycop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

renee_chrys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

beccammartin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

So haunting, and it hurts to read~ other than the long bouts of expose it was a fantastic thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

ntfconnoisseur's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.75

I first read this in middle school & thought hey remember how horrible that book was. What if I reread it? 

While I morally can’t give this book a good rating, I had so much fun reading it. Look, it’s compelling and engaging. Horrible material for sure………… fun to observe. Probably going to finish the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

pianofromthelibrary's review

challenging dark sad fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Rape, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

kelseyr713's review

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

2014 review: This is a bleak gut punch of a book. I was absolutely compelled to keep reading, despite a stilted writing style that was inadvertently humorous at times. Cathy is just so earnest about everything. ("Golly-lolly!") I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. I unfortunately went in knowing what I thought was the twist, but there was so much more to the book than that. I worried and rooted for the Dollanganger children the whole way through.

2024 review: Re-read for book club. I honestly can't believe I forgot so much of the plot of this book. All I retained was the incest (but I forgot it was non-consensual), the attic, and the scary grandma. I forgot they had a bedroom, I forgot that Cory dies, I forgot all the twists during the ending. I feel like the incest overshadows this book and its public perception SO MUCH when the actual moment is a single page. I do agree with my 2014 review that the writing is stiff/stilted, but when you consider that Cathy is writing the events years later looking back, and that she lost a lot of schooling time, it makes sense. Does a fantastic job of making you flip the pages as fast as possible while your skin is crawling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Incest only happens over the course of one page. Incest is non-consensual brother-sister. Mother attempts to kill her children via arsenic poisoning; succeeds in killing one.