Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

29 reviews

britwalsh16's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I have new obsession with hockey romance! How have I only recently discovered the joy of hockey romance?! I love hockey, I love romance, & ofcourse I love books, so why have I only recently started reading hockey romance books? 
I loved this book!!! It brought together the joys and confusion of finding love, the fun of hockey, with the trauma of the past, & the healing journey  to move on. The author wonderfully mixed all these aspects together, in such an incredible way! 
And Hannah & Garret have such an amazing story; both healing from their own separate traumas, but coming together to support eachother in their journeys! They are #relationshipgoals 💜💜💜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Drug use

Minor: Stalking

abidavisf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Elle Kennedy has the ability to write about incredibly harrowing topics in such an empathetic and real way. How she can weave topics such as sexual assault and domestic violence into a gorgeous love story is truly admirable. The Deal is hard-hitting and definitely do not expect a happy-go-lucky romance, but it is beautiful and I would highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Cancer, Classism, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

saretta02's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Gaslighting

catastrophiclyss's review

emotional funny tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

i adored this. hannah and garrett have my heart. the spice was amazing, the tenderness and love between these characters! i loved the honesty and communication between them and the way their love story developed. wasn’t a fan of the reason for the 3rd-act break-up but i loved garrett’s unwavering faith in their love to get the answers he needed to get them back together. i loved hannah’s viewpoints about her past and that they both helped each other to heal parts of themselves that hadn’t yet healed from their past traumas but i liked how hannah had already healed a lot and had a good viewpoint from the experiences of her past.

the only thing i didn’t like was that there was no resolution to hannah’s parents situation, it felt unresolved

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Alcohol, Death, Terminal illness, and Cancer

vj_thompson's review

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Cursing, Misogyny, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Drug use, Bullying, Mental illness, and Blood

steen19's review

funny lighthearted medium-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? Yes

3.5

TW: rape. skip this one if the mention of rape is a no go for you. I’d hadn’t seen it in the summary & already bought the book by then, so I decided to persist. In this case, it’s not on page & is referenced in the past tense. It’s mentioned on the very first page and then about every 50ish pages, with one semi-recall scene. 

TW: physical abuse. Male MC’s father was abusive to him as a child and the father is now physically abusive to his gf. Off page, bruises are seen & abuse is insinuated. 

My personal rule is that I don’t read romances that came out prior to 2018. Prior to then it's the wild wild west & consent is pretty dicey, imo. Considering the year, this is pretty good in those areas.

While published in ~2015, it’s heavily talked about online, so I gave it a try. The beginning 1/3 does have a lot of the classic 2015 phrasing like “chicks” etc, but the guy MC seems to morph into a different person pretty much as soon as he becomes interested in the girl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Body shaming, Rape, Alcohol, Fatphobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

katierosecrane's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

nbh379's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

marissaann's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse and Gaslighting