Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

11 reviews

mochipooja's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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

4.0

I really wish I’d read this book when it first came out and I’d gotten it because this was kind of at that height of bringing more attention to South Asian representation. I absolutely loved the queer rep as well as the Bengali rep between the community and the culture. It’s not often that you see stories about South Asians that aren’t solely Indian so this was a nice change of pace. Also, the story itself can seem extreme and outlandish because of how it’s written. But the thing to understand is that this is a YA novel written in the perspective of a 17 year old girl. So it may seem exaggerated by the situation itself is not at all outlandish because some families do crazy things like what’s shown in the book. Also the grandmother’s backstory? HEART WRENCHING. Overall, a fast and easy read but incredibly emotional, culturally based, and is a story to keep you turning the page till the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

sooporsalad's review

emotional reflective 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

4.5

This book hit way too close to home…I loved it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit

bruhbruh's review

emotional hopeful sad tense 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? No

5.0

Anxious book that deals brilliantly with queerphobia, despair and hope. Complex characters, very well written espacially Rukhsana who is really strong and inspiring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Outing, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Rape, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, and Xenophobia

lilylovestoread's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Lesbophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Biphobia, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Misogyny

dancevera's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, and Death

archiveofrasa's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, and Child abuse

my_weird_bookish_heart's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism

kp_writ's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

2.75

If you are looking at reviews before deciding to read: PLEASE for the love of god read the content warnings. It's rough. And because drugging and conversion therapy aren't included in Storygraph's list of content warnings, be prepared for those too.

I'll likely have to return to this review after I've digested some more, because dear god does this book give you a lot to digest. It was an easy read in that the writing style was good (if somewhat dialogue and narration-heavy) and each scene was quick and jumped straight into the next (a literal page-turner), but it was so beyond challenging in that the content was super dark. Thankfully this story never lets a plot point go without resolving it near immediately - one of the reasons it was such a page-turner, truly, but that was something that annoyed me quite a bit because it disrupted the tension and anticipation - but it really dragged on when we hit the darkest part of the story. I don't think I'm entirely satisfied with the ending since it feels so unrealistic. It felt as though the author was trying to shove a happy ending in there, but this book felt like it needed a bittersweet ending instead. There was one specific plot point that felt like it only existed for the shock factor, and it never really resolved. One of my biggest gripes with this book is that I kind of hated Rukhsana's Seattle friends and girlfriend. They were supposed to be the anchor point for her, especially during the darkest times, but they fell really flat as characters and as friends. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Hate crime, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexism

eashani's review

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, and Outing

Minor: Racism

belle2008's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault