Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

35 reviews

annadudley94's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

raychelbennet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

Despite the extensive trigger list, just wow. Incredibly comprehensive for a single novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Abortion, and Pregnancy

sadhbh2525's review

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy

belacqua's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

m_petranoff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

A phenomenal futuristic dystopian science-fiction novel that looks at how someone can be a part of, perpetuate, and glorify fascism, and how one can disentangle oneself from it. With breakneck pacing and concise, clear character development, this book gives you an unlikable protagonist who is shocked to discover how unlikable she is and does something about it. Without any spoilers, it's an incredibly well-built world that tells a compelling story, then, about halfway through, changes all the rules. My only complaint was that I wanted more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Genocide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

The book comes with a content warning at the beginning that is accurate and clearly written by the author.

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

stripedwolfie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, and Gaslighting

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I ended up pretty mixed on this one. At first, I was really bored. The lawful neutral protagonist who can't get a clue in a dystopia that just didn't make any sense.

You want the human race to survive by both training women for war and also relegating them to a breeding harem? And you are controlled breeding people but also have sex as much as you want with the concubines but being gay is not ok? I see the inspiration in other controlled societies, but this one seemed like it shouldn't have lasted 2 years, especially with a leader as lacking in charisma or skills as Jole.

It feels like the message of the book is a good one, but for me that message superseded the actual writing, and made the story as a whole fall a bit flat for me. It still won the Hugo, and while it wouldn't have been my pick, I see why it got the nomination. The aliens are good, the plot once you're off of Gaea station is intriuging, and the pace is sharp. As a rule though, I just kept coming back to the fact that I didn't really enjoy spending time with any of the characters, and that this was one of the dumber dystopias out there, built more to highlight reality's flaws than because it makes sense for the world-building.

So yeah, I'm going with 4 stars because it was better than a lot of things I give three stars, but overall kind of meh.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

raptorq's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Colonisation