Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

85 reviews

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

1.75

I wanted to like this sapphic, witchy thriller but it just didn't do it for me. It has a good aesthetic for Halloween but it ultimately lacked substance. First, I understand the concept of an unreliable narrator but it was hard to keep track at times. In my opinion, the pacing was a bit off too; sometimes the book seemed to drag and the ending was kind of abrupt. As a result of both of these things, I had a hard time mustering the energy to care about any of thr characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Racism

foreverinastory's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

Damn. I have never felt so betrayed by a book before.

Rep: white Lesbian female MC with depression and PTSD, white lesbian female love interest, white sapphic female ex-girlfriend (deceased at start of novel), Black female side character, South Asian (Indian-American coded) female side character with depression.

CWs: Alcohol, alcoholism, animal death, blood, death, drug use, gaslighting, grief, gun violence, mental illness, murder. Moderate: sexual content and discussions of racism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Racism

starccato's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Vomit

aloevera's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Buyer beware, if you want a hero and a villian this book will not deliver. I felt challenged by this book, but in an excellent way. Why should one person win at the end of a novel? Sometimes things are messier than that. I loved how this book is steeped in dark academia and the MC is overtly lesbian in a rarely depicted way. Sometimes the dark vibes skew dramatic and it becomes a bit over the top, but it's a great novel and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence

xtrememonotreme's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty

e_flah's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A Lesson in Vengeance was a gripping, atmospheric read. It somehow managed to include a ton of items in my reading wheelhouse, which was a real treat. Dalloway and Godwin House were rich settings that I loved reading about.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

soffi_ramirez's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content

sarenac's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Mental illness

bookishfaye's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

🍃 positives:
- I adored the sapphic yearning dear God
- The actual academia portion of the dark academia vibes I adored as an English major myself! all the thesis statements I found so fun!! Also the literary references were 10/10, & the method book writing was awesome
- also the dark academia vibes in general lol 
- the focuses on sexism, gender, white privilege, & sexuality I loved
- I loved the “unreliable narrator” vibes throughout the story & was constantly unsure of who the “bad guy” was.
- I am so obsessed with Ellis’s character and how interesting she is  
- the psyche of both Felicity and Ellis were just so interesting to dive into on top of the connection they had & their own personal ✨issues✨ 
- the Lesbian MC & love interest rep, & non binary side character rep :)) <3
-the witchy vibes were so fricken good

🍃negatives:
- there were definitely some aspects of the plot/character that were predictable/cheesy and it wasn’t a perfect book; however, I adored it so much that any “issue” was so minor to me that it didn’t make a difference to how I felt overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

guime's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Blood and Gaslighting