Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

24 reviews

valorelei's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

one of my favorite books ever. i’m convinced tam muir is a dissociative system at this point (me too)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, War, Chronic illness, Body horror, Gore, and Medical content

lyr1cal's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Gore, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, and Terminal illness

sabrina_marvil's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Genocide, Gore, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Incest, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Colonisation, Self harm, Stalking, Trafficking, Torture, Medical content, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Body shaming, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness

Not in space

supernova_reader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Good suspense throughout. Strong opening. Spooky vibes. Lots of death and skeletons but not in a way that jolts you out of the plot. Excited for the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Body horror, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cancer, Cannibalism, Slavery, Child death, Chronic illness, and Confinement

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Genocide, Slavery, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

beefthedwarf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

5.0

Edit: after a few years, I've bumped this up to 5 stars. I'm obsessed with the series and the gripes I had were resolved after re-reading (high re-read value!) and understanding the characters better.

The writing was incredible and unique, and I found myself loving Gideon more than I ever thought I could love a main character. Due to the later plot twists and complex story, it also has a very satisfying re-read value. 

My biggest gripe is that Harrowhark did very little to redeem herself, and it was consistently difficult and heartbreaking to see Gideon be treated like absolute garbage, yet still cow to Harrow in a heartbeat. In my honest opinion, it takes more than a tearful apology and a confession of suicidal guilt to make up for the years of slavery, beatings, and abuse Harrow and her family put Gideon -- and all their slaves -- through. 

I think the book also suffers a bit from being the prequel/world building intro to the rest of the series. 

Regardless, the book left me enamored and intrigued enough to add Harrow the Ninth to my reading list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Incest, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Cannibalism, Body horror, Colonisation, Child death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Death

The author depicts characters of color, particularly men of color, in a poor light. There is rampant colorism. An indigenous man is a perpetrator if colonial violence.

iane_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Hate crime, Miscarriage, Dementia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War

atomicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abandonment

rwsmith's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this book lived up to all the hype. going in, i knew it was an enemies to lovers lesbian necromancy situation, and it is that. in my opinion the relationship between the main character and her "enemy" moves fast towards the end, and is not explicitly romantic, so im not sure if it would technically fit the enemies to lovers trope. but honestly it was a bit of a relief and it was refreshing  to have such a close relationship be legitimately ambiguous in its intentions. 
it is almost a murder mystery, kind of hunder games adjacent, in that theres a competition that a bunch of teenagers are participating in in a secluded location. 
the worldbuilding is awesome, once i finished the book i ended up reading The Locked Tomb wiki for three hours because i wanted to know more. i could have read the rest of the series but i got into a rabbit hole . . .
the writing is well done, the cast of characters are kind of "tropes" on the surface but they all have deeper more complex meanings and experiences beneath the surface that surprised me at every turn. so, somewhat predictable or familiar while still being interesting!
i listened to the audiobook and the narrator was amazing, i could easily tell the characters apart and each inflection the different characters had gave them all so much life and fit them each so well. 
overall i highly highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a touch of sci-fi in their fantasy magic systems, anyone who's looking for a story with lgbtq+ characters who aren't defined by their sexuality or who's queerness isnt the center the whole story and isn't brushed aside either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Cancer, Child death, and Gaslighting

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Medical content, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting