Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

16 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

I know this was a labor of love by Sarah Gailey so I *really* wanted to like it. I did not like it at all. 

I see that a lot of people have said the book was character-driven. I felt Vera was such an unreliable narrator that I couldn’t trust any personality or character she presented. I therefore felt the plot was more important. 

I was so-so on the book till that wild ending. It was so over the top that it ruined what had come before. I felt the strongest parts were about the peephole, Vera’s relationship with her father, and the mystery of how much her father knew / approved of her using the peephole. I felt the supernatural parts were the weakest and I found James the artist to be more of an annoying diversion than anything really integral to the story. 

Minor quibbles re editing: there is a lot of emphasis on there being no locks on the bedroom and bathroom doors but there’s a comment, “The door was locked.” It’s also clear that it’s the middle of a hot and humid summer, but the A/C is on high making it cold inside. Vera says, “I would have turned the heat up….” The artist lives in the shed some distance from the house yet he tells Vera, “I hear you in the night sometimes.” Finally, I got really tired of the phrase, ”the house her father had built.”

I am really sorry I didn’t like this because I’ve read almost all Gailey’s books and have enjoyed them all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Abandonment, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Torture, Gaslighting, Vomit, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

yalibrarianjen's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Chronic illness, Blood, and Toxic relationship

renyoi's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

Brilliant atmospheric, suspenseful storytelling that builds up to its truly horrifying moments in intensely effective ways. The protagonist,

an unreliable narrator in the subtlest sense

, turns out to be the most horrifying character in the book, which was entirely unexpected for me. My only wish is that the “true crime” aspect had been more present in the book; as it is, we are told it is a constant presence in the Crowder family’s life but never shown it apart from weirdo James Duvall, who comes across more as a basket case than as a representation of society. 

Aside from that, though, this work is a thrilling, grisly, appalling turn on the “haunted house” and “serial killer” genres of horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

junowo's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

A rare 5 star read—Just Like Home was a book that actually left my heart racing. The writing is phenomenal, and the story takes a form I never expected from a book like this.
My one and only criticism is that the book isn’t particularly damning to the failures of the true crime community in a way that descriptions led me to believe. I struggle to tell if it would’ve fit into the book at all, though.
This was a great read around Halloween, playing well with both true crime style horror and supernatural horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

kingsteph's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

authorash's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

What an absolute masterful, twisted story this is. It took me awhile to read because I was annotating but then I gave that up. I read the rest in one sitting. 

Never would I have ever expected that ending. 
I am disturbed and in awe at the same time.

You want a good Spooky read? This is it. 
I can’t give much away, but I do say that this is amazing work done by the author. The way that she wrote the dynamic between Daphne (mom) and Vera (FMC) was stunning but also hard to read because it had a lot of gaslighting and emotional abuse. But it was very well done.

I like how the other character, James Duvall was just not right and never sat right with me. He was an interesting mix into the story. 

Overall this is a very good read and I would put it up there on my top reads of the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Death

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Stalking, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Bullying, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

ohhthehorrors's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

hotscarysummer's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

 This book was absolutely fantastic, a complete mindfuck. It was slow paced at first, I was worried it was going to be entirely too slow; but around half way through it really picked up. This is my favorite new book I’ve read this year so far, it has me enraptured in it, I couldn’t put it down. All the characters were insufferable, but by the end I found myself twisted rooting for what I had thought I never would when I started the book. Impeccable work, amazing read, I really really recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death of parent, Violence, and Gaslighting