Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland

12 reviews

snoogler's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-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

2.5

the setting surrounding this book was great, i could really imaging the aesthetic flower farms and the australian desert and the like, but that was the only win for this book. the plot was based solely around Alice’s trauma, and while it is important to talk about matters like abuse and destigmatize them , i found that the characters and plot was flat overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Violence

abrown04's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This book was amazing in terms of the comparisons to flowers and everything, but it just had so many loose ends and things that didn’t make sense. June? I would fight the old lady, what an absolute bitch. Clem? Absolute asshole with a saviour/guilt complex. Dylan? Exactly the same as Clem. And Alice? She just let everything happen and never tried to do anything about it. Not only that, but she ignored the only guy that would’ve been good for her. And Oggi? JUSTICE FOR OGGI AND MOSS!!! 

It ended abruptly and felt rushed towards the end, and it felt like Alice hadn’t actually resolved any of her trauma. Absolutely mad at how it ended. 

Paperback. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

Minor: Cancer

jailala's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

An excellent contemporary read! This book spans the first few decades of the main character's life (while also exploring the past of her family members to explain why she is being raised the way she is) so it can feel a bit disconcerting if you don't know this.

There are three almost separate seeming 'chapters' of Alice's life explored so it helps to know that going in- otherwise, the break between her early disjointed childhood understanding into the people caring for her in the second part can through you.

The third part, told more from her adult perspective was fairly easy to read (though the topics she works through can be triggering to some- brutal!)  Another author might have simply told the story only from that third part- throwing in bits and pieces in flashbacks to help you understand.  As it stands, we are led through Alice's life from beginning to her final growth into an adult on her way to a well-rounded life and we get a much more complete picture because of Ringland's choice of structure.

I found this choice of structure particularly intriguing given Alice's constant struggle to get the caregivers in her life to simply be straight with her and explain her family's history to her once and for all already!
Those who do not understand their history and, by extension, their family's history, are doomed to repeat the same bad patterns over and over.
Hiding the past almost never ends well and can actually be quite destructive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Stalking and Animal cruelty

While the entire book is cathartic, in order to get to the growth of the main character the story goes to some pretty traumatic places. None of it is over-the-top or used purely for effect. All of it has specific ramifications and growth relation to the characters.

alicejm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

A good first novel, but very clearly a first. The writing style was disrupted and jolty. The main characters weren't given room to breath, and the side characters (who were by far the best characters) weren't given enough time. The lack of communication between family members was infuriating and unnecessary. This is not the book for you if you find miscommunication frustrating. The first half and the second half were written very differently. The mystery aspect was really compelling though and I enjoyed wondering about things. The exploration of generational trauma was also very well done. If you want to find out more about flowers, this book ain't it sadly. All the flower meanings are made up.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Grief, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Infidelity, Sexism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

mari_teran's review

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Death of parent, Misogyny, Grief, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty

kiwichill's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Stalking, Physical abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Deportation, Infidelity, Child death, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Minor: Medical content

june_haya's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Vomit and Stalking

spellygirl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Really unsure how to rate this. I liked the flower language. I liked the parts with Moss and some of the other Flowers. I liked the stories about the tourism and indigenous people. I liked Sally 

It was also very slow paced, jumping around a lot
And committing the same mistakes as so many others. I know it happens in real life, but it still bugs me. 

Checking trigger warnings is recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Infidelity, and Stalking

whenjessreads's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

If you’re going to read one Australian fiction novel this year, make it this one (actually, don’t. Read lots. Make this ONE of the ones you read this year).

This book opens with the 9yo MC Alice daydreaming about ways to set her father on fire. If that’s not what you expected, don’t worry, neither did I. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart isn’t fairytale-esque, it’s about the cyclical nature of violence, surviving abuse, self discovery, and the healing effect of nature.

I thought this book was compassionate and honest. It spans twenty years - both a coming of age and a personal growth story. The land is its own character, and the novel is split into three sections: the first set in sugar cane fields by the sea, the second at a native Australian flower farm, and the third at a meteoric crater in the middle of the Australian desert. Each setting was so beautifully and poetically described, though the time shifts between each section were a little distracting.

Personally, I found the first two parts of the book the most emotionally impactful. I thought the importance of the flowers got lost nearer to the end and the magic disappeared a little. However, I feel like I was holding in all the emotion I gathered throughout the course of the story and when I put it down I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to hug my cat and cry on someone’s shoulder 😅😅

There were a few niggling issues - some of the characters could have done with more air time, and some with less; there were secrets that didn’t need to be kept; and the MC was occasionally overdramatic/naive - but as a debut novel I thought it was stunning. 

“The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a story about stories: those we inherit, those we select to define us, and those we decide to hide”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

bellaleimgruber's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting and Alcoholism