Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Acts of Desperation

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

46 reviews

amina_el's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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bookishpip's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I’m not sure what to say about this one. I want to call it ‘gorgeous’, a word I typically use for books I like, but in this instance that is the wrong word to use. I’m not even sure if ‘like’ is the right word as I spent quite a lot of it in despair for the protagonist. But this book sure took me on a ride and I was absolutely on board for every turn it took.

This is a book about love, lust, obsession and hate. It’s visceral and doesn’t hold back - definitely watch out for trigger warnings on this one as there are some exceptionally brutal moments.

An unnamed protagonist falls head over heels with a beautiful but quite damaged man named Ciaran. He’s a very powerful presence and she falls completely under his spell. The more we follow the relationship, the more we begin to see the pair of them unravel in their own ways. He is controlling and manipulative; she is desperate to please and self-destructive. A terrible combination…

I really enjoyed Nolan’s writing style. I loved it’s honestly and rawness. It’s one of the more accurate depictions I’ve read of living with extremely low self esteem. Parts of this just spoke to me; it’s one of those novels in which I used page markers fairly thoroughly. I liked how absolutely all of the characters (with the exception of Lisa, who doesn’t appear much) are morally grey.

Speaking of grey, I also felt this to be a poignant exploration into the grey areas around sex and consent; with frequent references to times in which she didn’t want, but acquiesced to, her partner’s persistent demands despite saying no initially. This coupled with her increasingly alarming sexual habits paints quite a nasty but sadly common image and says a lot about male dominance and female commodification. I know this isn’t exactly new in literature, but I’ve not read of it such a disturbing light before. It needs talking about more openly.

It was a fairly short read, made to feel even shorter by the snapshot nature of this novel. Each ‘chapter’ is no more than 5 pages, and frequently only half a page, making for a book that is easily devoured in a day. Sadly I read this during a ‘slump’ period so it took considerably longer… however, I do believe that a book that can get a person out of a slump is always very impressive, and that’s exactly what happened here.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend - but as mentioned, please take note of trigger warnings first…

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roemfr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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camillatd's review

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was a jarring, uncomfortable, and intimate exploration of obsession, abuse, sex, love, and toxic relationships. The main character was both entirely insufferable and upsettingly relatable--like each of our worst thoughts taken to the extreme. Nolan explores the physical and mental constraints of patriarchy, capitalism, and normative sexuality, and the psychological impact these can have on one person. I wrote down so many quotes from this book, and I know I'll be thinking about the story for a long while. Nolan's prose is sharp, witty, and incredibly compelling; I think I would read a description of yogurt in her voice.

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yasminnobre's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"In these moments I knew that if I could be smaller, smaller, less and less, if I could be tidied, then he would love me fully and properly; and that anybody - oh, everybody - would."

this book has a raw and at times uncomfortable portrayal of obsession and codependency. the unnamed main character reduces herself, her memories, feelings, and needs in order to please a man, and to become as inconvenient and small as she can be, in the hopes that it will make her lovable.

i went into this expecting it to be a book that had a scary portrayal of obsession, but finished it feeling more understood than ever (don't get me wrong, not the obsessive part :D i'm not crazy) because this author has a way of putting very uncomfortable and unique situations women go through in words and ways that i would've never thought possible. the universal experience of being a woman and trying to fit into molds people impose on you, with the promise of love and acceptance for doing so... sexual-trauma, toxic upbringings, problems with self-image and food, self-loathing and emotional abuse... i think every woman i know is familiar with at least one of these things, and this book makes your feelings very seen and heard.

not only the portrayal of a toxic relationship, with its high and lows, manipulation, and gaslighting, was done perfectly, but also the internal dialogue of going through a situation like that. this author puts into words feelings we all feel but are ashamed of admitting so, and it shocked me how relieving it was to know i was not alone in such thoughts. you understand the main character, not because you're going through that situation, but because the writing of her internal conflicts is so so so well-done that you almost wish you could help her. it is less about obsession than it is about codependency and feeling like you can't survive if you're alone.

i debated whether to give this five stars, but ultimately decided not to. it is not a plot-driven book, and the pace is quite slow, but it was incredibly relatable. i ultimately felt like it was missing something, though the ending was very very nice and comforting. i loved this book so much, and i think it's one of my favorites now.

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kaitlynmm's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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phoebebebe's review against another edition

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found it a little bit boring, from the first person perspective, guess i’m not a character driven type of reader. and i really understand the topics and issues she brings up and i appreciate that but i just can’t relate that much. like a person really can be in a toxic relationship and not realising it thing, maybe it can but not for me. i feel everyone has a responsibility to educate themselves about these things and we just can’t always say what happened during our childhood and parenting, because when we’re all grown up it’s our responsibility to make our lives better. just a personal opinion

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