Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

50 reviews

carolrol_lina's review

challenging 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

3.0

bem ok! O role molieres depressivas começou a me cansar em certo ponto,, mas eh bom! capitulos curtos!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

danielatheinkdrinker's review

dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

ciaran was an abuser, but slowly and intricately so was the narrator. a gaslighter who was excitably desperate for any gram of love she could satisfy herself with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

eralbesu's review

challenging 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

4.0

If this were autobiographical I’d say it’s an extremely brave piece of work, because ~whew~ Acts of Desperation was quite precisely named. 

This reads as a confessional from our main character about her obsessions with love and sex and her volatile relationship with her body and her compulsion to punish it. 

There were many parts that were difficult for me to read and plenty of parts where I had to step away because of my embarrassment with the our main character’s sheer honesty about her actions and her intentions. 

Not sure I could recommend it, as the trigger warnings are plentiful, but I’m happy I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Fatphobia and Abandonment

corina28's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Grief, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Abandonment

alt05's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

There was really nothing redeemable about this book for me. The main character, who is nameless, is unlikeable, emotionally immature, and oddly introspective. The book focuses heavily on the main character's relationship with men and herself, which is an interesting take. Though, it's executed poorly. It's as if the author took every social struggle a woman may go through and crammed it into a short 300-page book. The writing itself is pretentious and moody. The separation fo the chapters is weird and doesn't make sense with the direction of the plot. The ending is terrible and provides no real resolution to the events of the book. I understand that maybe the author wanted the reader to put themselves in the main character's shoes, but it reads like a bad diary entry more than a novel about the ways in which women interact with men for love and societal gain. Also, there are very random acts of violence and sexual harm, that don't add anything to the book at all. I don't recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

msameliee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Violence, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer and Medical content

actiaslunasaturniidae's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, and Gaslighting

redflyingbook's review against another edition

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

this surely was a quick read!

the narrator is a woman in her twenties, who meets a guy who she becomes immediately infatuated, and quickly downright obsessed with. here begins a - in the eyes of probably any clear thinking bystander - highly toxic relationship that mainly made me want to spit the guy right in his face for the excessively shitty behavior towards her. along the way, the book also explores the narrator's struggles with alcoholism, dependence, identity, body image, lust and love. 

some trains of thought felt wildly familiar and definitely expressed complex feelings very boldly and clearly. 
although the focus was probably also supposed to be more on the relationship dynamic , somehow i felt that the characters still lacked substance in some way? the ending part also felt unexpectedly extreme and not entirely well-paced in my opinion. still an interesting read that urges you ponder about uncomfortable but important topics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Terminal illness and Dysphoria

standrews's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol

lindsaybennett's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

Really well written book, i found it very poetic. Pretty dark, definitely check out the trigger warnings before reading. I liked the style of writing and the nuggets if profound wisdom throughout the book. It almost felt like i was reading a real person's journal, not a fictional novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting