Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

37 reviews

schmidi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Violence, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

egurgens's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.5

I really struggled to get into this book because Feyre is no longer the main character, instead it's Nesta. We get a bit of  a glimpse of post-war Nesta in a Court of Frost and Starlight, but we really get to see who Nesta is in this book. It took about 200 pages at least for me to really begin to enjoy the book, because Nesta is just SO miserable in the beginning. However, I think it's really important for the readers to understand that Nesta isn't mean and miserable and defiant because she wants to be, but because she's really struggling with her own mental health, and is afraid to let anyone get close again. 
Once I got into this book, I began to INHALE it. The reintroduction of the Valkyries? Hell yes. Empowering battered women to be able to stand up for themselves and defend themselves if needed? Loved it. The very spicy scenes and the love interest? I'm drooling. The plot was amazing, with Rhys, Feyre, Cassian, and Azriel recovering from the war, only to find a new enemy and artifacts, which only Nesta has the power to find. That was a brilliant way to bring Nesta into the fold of the court, even begrudgingly, and to enable the court to begin to see her in a new light. 
No worries for anyone who is afraid that Feyre won't be present in the story, she definitely is, but is more of a side character here. But she is still present and as lovely and lovable and fierce as ever. I'm super excited for the next book and what new perspectives that offers. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Addiction, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Dysphoria, Excrement, Physical abuse, War, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Pregnancy

theoceanrose's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Nesta and Cassian are incredible forces and the character development was spectacular. I went into this book knowing that the focus shifted to them, and that I WOULD like Nesta (based on what everyone seemed to be saying online), but otherwise, it was nice to go on the adventure blindly. The book is heavy (both literally because of all of the pages, and mentally/emotionally because of the content), but I still wanted more. I am here for the SJM bandwagon. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, Alcohol, Grief, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting

delliomellidom's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Sexism

Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Additional tw for withheld medical information, which led to a hiatus in reading

ka_ke's review

adventurous emotional tense 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

4.75

I’m speechless. A Court of Silver Flames was so good. Watching Nesta and Cassian’s transformations honestly made me cry and watching Feyre & Rhy’s struggles pulled at my heart. I wish there had been more Mor & Az appearances, I also think Elain could have been more present. The spice was unbelievably good. All in all, I could have used more plot, but honestly Sarah J. Maas did not let us down. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, War, and Torture

dreami's review

sad slow-paced

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

1.5

So.many.repeated.words.
 
and yet so little plot. If you are into erotica desguised as a fantasy book, this one is for you. Otherwise... read throne of glass, that's a actually good fantasy book this author wrote. I usually love SJM, but she massacreted the written word here and there was...NO PLOT. Just sex. I mean, honestly this is just a wattpad fanfiction in hardcover in a nutshell. Seriosly, if you liked "A court of thorns and roses" triology, don't read this. Rhysand becames just as bad as Tamlin (which kills me) and everyone, expect Asriel, Mor and Elain, turned out soooo bad. I miss the time Tamlin was the biggest problem. 

Also I really disliked the fact that SJM took away Nesta’s powers. They were kinda the only thing that made her unique. And the only reason I was even interested in reading this. Without her powers she’s just Feyres bitchy sister. Now Nesta’s just an unnecessary and incredibly annoying character.

I also hate the whole fuck-buddy premise, I found it really unsatisfactory.  And for the young minds that may read this, sex is not how you deal with trauma! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

elfiefiction's review

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

Kind of repetitive at times and some characters

are low key assholes but never really get held accountable for this in the end

but there is a good message about personal growth, healing and female friendship. While I found Nesta intriguing to begin with, this book did make me like her a bit more but unfortunately it was at the expense of the other characters. Also, I'm not sure her relationship with Cassian was as satisfying as I had hoped it would be considering most of their interactions were smut and not emotional or deeply connecting these two characters. Also the girl power narrative kind of felt undercut at the end when she

decided to change her body to have children as she saved her sister's life. Personally, I found this a bit weird as she never mentioned wanting a child before and this scene seemed to push a desire for motherhood onto her but I digress.

Despite its shortcomings, the book does strive for a positive message for young women. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

If you are tokophobic (fear pregnancy) and/or pro-choice, maybe sit this one out.

kbairbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Wow this was. Breathtaking. (Spoiler review) the depth, the insight, the growth, the pain, the just pure incredible artistry…. Wow. This was something else. Working through the trauma of losing her father, and all the personal failures as a person and a sister and a daughter. The physical help from the training, the mental help from working at the library, the emotional help from the house then Emerie and Gwyn then Cassian. The spiritual help from the music, the steps, being pulled into the bloodrite just wow. This was an enchanting read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

livviz_03's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

It took me a good while to get into this book. It‘s really slow in the beginning but speeds up in the end. Once I got into the book, I didn’t mind the slower pace of the plot though. This book is centered around Nesta and her journey, not so much around the plot. Which was unexpected for me, especially if one has read the other books in the series, which are very much adventure driven. 
So you might need to adjust your mindset before diving into this, at least that’s how it was for me. Once I did that, I was actually beginning to enjoy following Nesta along and trying to understand the mindset behind her actions. Adding to that, I really didn’t like Nesta because of how she was portrayed in the other books. But I also think Nesta isn’t supposed to be a lovable character, which makes it even more intriguing trying to understand her. And even though I really hated her in the beginning for all that she‘d done ( or not done), I must admit that she creeped herself into my heart at the end of this journey.
Like many others, I related to her on some levels, which probably made it hard to just unconditionally love her from the beginning. She also simply isn’t portrayed as likeable, but I actually loved to see that in a fictional woman.
On the other side, the side characters are very much lovable. I enjoyed every written word about Gwyn and Emerie and found it very interesting to learn about them and their backstories. The dynamic of the three was the absolute best.
My cons: very slow start and hard to get into (it really is a mindset question though), some out of character moments regarding the inner circle, some issues should have been addressed better.
Honorable mention: the house. I FREAKING LOVE the house! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Eating disorder, War, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Toxic friendship

mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Physical abuse, and Torture