Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

85 reviews

laurenleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

A haunted girl’s boarding school in upstate New York that was founded by daughters of Salem witches? Sapphic plot lines and murder mysteries? SO into it. This was definitely a fun quick palette cleanser that was much needed after a lot of intense reads. Not that this also isn’t intense in its own dark way, but in a faster-paced YA manner. If you liked A Secret History, Plain Bad Heroines, and If We Were Villains, you gotta check this out. It really had elements of all three novels, blended together nicely. It really got me in the mood for Fall, even though that season doesn’t really exist here for another two months, if at all. My English major brain ate it up when they talked about their thesis topics and research. I totally want to live at Godwin House, just maybe with different girls that aren’t so twisted lol. I also loved the casual inclusion of a non-binary character. Representation is so majorly important, but it’s especially important when done in this way, highlighting how normal it is to identify outside of the binary. I believe the author identifies as queer and trans. I’m happy to see that the dark academia trend is still going strong. I’m so here for it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

sylvestra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

luxvestravitae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Suicide, Murder, Gun violence, and Gore

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racism, and Toxic friendship

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death and Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

betweentheshelves'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

This book gave me all the spooky fall vibes! While the pacing felt a bit off at times, I thought the characters were really well done, as well as the setting. You can feel there's something a bit off at Godwin house and it seeps through every aspect of the book. If you love dark academia, definitely pick up this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, and Eating disorder

Minor: Gaslighting

bookcrushin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

This book will mess with your head a bit especially with the unreliable narrator. I loved it and I expect to see it on all your fall dark gothic lists!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Drug use

bibookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

5/5 Stars ⭐️: A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee is a bone chilling YA Horror/Thriller that will leave you speechless. This Sapphic Dark Academic story will have you up all night until you devour every single page only for you to be left yearning for more of Victoria Lee’s incredible writing. This spooky story weaves together murder mysteries with historic witches and dangerous occult knowledge. I highly recommend this for anyone who needs a good scare! This book is perfect for fans of Ninth House, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Witch. This haunting atmospheric read will have you looking for ghosts over your shoulder every time you turn the page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism

Minor: Eating disorder

loganskies's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Gaslighting

thetinytrashcan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

This book is the sapphic dark academia book I’ve been craving for so long!! I loved the characters throughout and felt that I could connect even with the side characters, who were just all well crafted as the main. The plot does become slightly predictable at some points, but it never took away from the overall enjoyment of the book and definitely didn’t stop me from having a great time reading this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

olivia_manes'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Gaslighting