Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - The Soulmate

The characters were extremely unlikeable and I found it hard to connect with any of them. The main character was unbelievably stupid, weak, naive, bland and tiresome. I was disappointed and frustrated that she lacked any common sense and continued to gaslight herself throughout the ENTIRE book and it made it hard to be invested in her story. The way she is SO obsessed with and forgiving of her TERRIBLE husband (with countless glaring red flags) just because he's gorgeous. 🤢🙄🤡 Mental illness was used as a plot device and I felt like it was done so in an extremely disrespectful, lazy and damaging way. It either reflected poor understanding of mental illness or poor writing?? The few lines at the end of the book about the main character's realisation regarding her husband's mental illness felt lazy and nowhere near sufficient to save the book from its damaging portrayal of mental illness. I did enjoy the format with the short chapters and mini cliffhangers and different perspectives and times. But the second person's POV was kind of a crazy concept... Anyway the main character and her husband gave me bad vibes from the start and they were all confirmed by the end, which was kind of predictable. There was also zero character development, and this was reinforced by the final chapter where we get to glimpse one year into the future. I also found the portrayal and writing of some of the characters very inconsistent and confusing. Many aspects about the ending were also very frustrating.

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meeklovestoread's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I liked the book for what it was. However, I wouldn't necessarily categorized this book as a thriller and more like a mystery/cozy mystery. So if you're expecting this book to be super thrilling then lower your expectations because that's not what this book is. Once I realized that and got over that fact the book was pretty entertaining to me.

I'll have to admit the book was messy. There was alot of drama going on here. It was kinda crazy. The book didn't give me crazy feelings or anything. In fact, I didn't really feel anything after I finished and I don't think I'll ever think about it again, but it was still entertaining for what it was.

Amanda being ghost make no sense the entire book. I saw a comment that said that it seemed like she was nowhere but everywhere at the same time and I completely agree. I also I lowkey still feel like Gabe pushed Amanda off that cliff. I'm so happy Pippa FINALLY left him. I felt like he was a red flag from the jump and I really wish her family didn't cottle her feelings and just told her how they felt about him because she endured all his drama and for what. Also his intial diagnosis of ADHD didn't make sense to me because he literally had a psychosis early on and that's not a symptom of ADHD. Even I saw that!

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fadeddpages's review

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emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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tfarfan's review

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adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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kaylasbookgram's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Pippa finally feels like she’s found her happily ever after. The perfect husband (yeah they’ve had their ups and downs but what couple hasn’t) and the perfect home. The only downfall is their perfect home sits on a cliff where people have mad a spot for suicides. Every time Gabe is able to miraculously talk people off the cliff and back to safety until the night he doesn’t. Pippa is at a loss of what she may of saw. Did her husband push the woman or did she jump? Once she learns her husband knew the victim she begins to question his story even more.

This is a very addicting domestic suspense book! So many twists and turns that caught me off guard with each new secret coming to life. I loved having all the different POVs especially that of the victim gave the story an exciting perspective.

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boundbywords's review

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mysterious sad tense fast-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

2.5

First of all, we NEED to talk about this incredible cover. Forget everything I'm about to write below and buy this book for the aesthetic alone–wow 😍.

But yes, what I'm going to write is that I didn't love it, but damn if it wasn't an entertaining ride! It was the definition of fast-paced, page-turning, and 'I MUST know what happened'–all ingredients for those looking for a thriller that they can consume in a single sitting.

My qualms existed in character relationships and traits, all of which seemed to fit together like mismatched puzzle pieces. Their development felt extremely random and, at the most frustrating of times, very confusing. There was also a mental health aspect that I felt was mishandled, namely in terms of the role it played in a character's bad behavior and their eventual diagnosis.

But if it's plot-driven thrills and action you're looking for, I would definitely recommend THE SOULMATE.

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sleeson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Thank you NetGalley for this e-book ARC. Hepworth is back!!! I was captivated and encompassed the entire 3/4 of the book! THEN, Hepworth took it a step further with a twist at the end of the story, I don’t think anyone will see it coming! I for sure didn’t. She was so slick at the end. I will continue to support her when I can. Mild sexual content. Mild swearing.

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