Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

60 reviews

kit_icarus8's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jennxreviews's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

I didn't know if this was supposed to be horrific or hilarious, it turned out to be a roller coaster. When you think you know what's going on something will happen that will knock you down. 
Triggers for domestic abuse, alcoholism, child abuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

synclaire's review

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Gaslighting

meagan123's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Dementia, and Gaslighting

witchymermaid's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. I don't want to give much away, but this book had so many layers that slowly peeled away. I couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gaslighting

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

I really loved this! The tone was both goofy and pretty dark at the same time, which can be challenging to balance but was done well in this instance. I listened to this via audio and I think the narrator (at 2.25x speed) perfectly captured Margaret’s voice, like foolishly stubborn, very compassionate, and yearning for a place to call her own. Margaret’s characterization was just very strong, she was so well rounded and made me wish this book kept going to spend more time with her (bleeding walls notwithstanding).

The allegory here for domestic violence and the cycles of abuse that feels impossible to disrupt was perhaps a bit on the nose, but mostly I thought it was wonderfully layered. A haunted house story is never just about the haunted house (at least in a good one) and that shone through here.

I was about to be very upset about the “twist,” I really dislike horror that ends up just being psychosis or a dream, but trusted that Orlando knew what she was doing. The fake-out twist actually makes a lot of sense given the allegory here, like of course she would be gaslit and then we’d get the pleasure of the house murdering a bunch of cops who didn’t believe her. acab

I think this will be my top recommendation for books to read for Halloween (and just generally), it was scary, thematically rich, and just very well crafted. I had such a good time reading this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

whatkatyread87's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cal428's review

dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was quite the ride. I love horror as a metaphor and think there’s commentary here around agency, women’s stories and sanity that are all interesting, even if some aren’t fully fleshed out. Lots of gore, good twists and a satisfying (in my opinion) end. Definitely check the content warnings, but definitely a worthy addition to spooky season reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

tegan_revelsinreads's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was a tough read for me but probably not in the way you'd think. I loved the spooks, the writing was excellent, the characters were great (flawed and realistic), the mystery was engaging, the red herrings were good... but the detailed descriptions of

abuse

was super triggering for me. They were essential to the plot and the characters so I understand their place in the book despite me not liking them. 

I ended up switching from the audiobook to the ebook to finish the story because the verbal descriptions were getting to me. The narrator is too good! She was perfect for the tone of this book and really got the emphasis needed in certain situations. The kind of grudging acceptance of the situation dotted by moments of clarity before being pulled back down to

self gaslighted

reality... Those moments really hit me hard because I have been there and my sister is currently there. The silver lining to switching formats is that I read the rest of the book in the characters 'voices' that the narrator gave them. I knew the cadence the MC spoke and thought with which was essential in some areas (as sometimes one word in a sentence gave more weight to the situation). I would have missed that if I read it via ebook from the beginning.  

If I wasn't reading this for a book club I may not have finished it but I'm really glad I did. I got a lot of positive vicarious feelings from the sequence towards the end of the book and that alone made the first half of the book worth it. The amount of satisfaction I got from reading that part surprised me and I think it was the perfect way to end the book given the sub-text.

If you're going to read it and need CWs for a few topics - look them up but don't look any further than that. I'll tell you now that you don't need to worry about SA appearing.

The only reason I'm not giving this five stars is due to the mental health spirals (plural) it caused me to have. Having that happen highlighted some things for me that I need to address so thank you to the author for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Vomit, and Alcohol

Big CWs for

abuse (physical and emotional for both child and domestic), undiagnosed mental illness, and alcoholism

ravenpuff's review

emotional funny reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent