Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Gaslight by Sara Shepard, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

6 reviews

applesodaperson's review

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dark 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? Yes

4.25

This book was so so good! Clearly the authors of this book did an extensive amount of research into cults for this book. I also would say I have a better than average knowledge base about cults, so I could really see and appreciate how accurate and detailed this book was. And this book was written so well and made me feel so stressed at times. It did such a good job of keeping the stakes so high. Especially when
Danny was trying to kidnap Roscoe.
And it was so compelling watching the various characters go through the deconstruction process and try to break out of the patterns of thought that cults enforce. 
And Ben was seriously terrifying and had pretty much every trait of the classic cult leader.
Honestly a lot of this book reminded me of the NXIVM cult. 2 years ago I read Don't Call It A Cult by Sarah Berman, and honestly I would be shocked if this book was not heavily inspired by that real life cult. Because they both have the base of being for self help and self improvement, and they both involved branding their members, and in both cases the cult leader has a woman as their second in command. This book was basically a fictionalized version of that real life cult.
But it was such an entertaining book and I would highly recommend it. 
Listened to on Libby. 
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motherofpearly's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

This book was so interesting, and I finished it quickly. The authors did a good job at showing how the main character’s perspective shifted before, during, and after entering the cult. The audiobook was really well read too. I did skip past a lot of the sexual abuse because it seemed like it was going to be too graphic for me
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likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you like stories centered around cults, you’ll want to read this book! I could not stop listening to this audiobook. It had everything I wanted from perfect pacing to complex characters.
The authors did a really good job at showing the way cult leaders market themselves as life coaches or spiritual healers to target and draw in people who may be more susceptible to their tactics. They also did a decent job exploring the conflicting thoughts and emotions that victims of these systems experience.
But the real star of the show here is the story between Becs, the seemingly perfect housewife, and Danny, the unexpected visitor who causes reality to come crashing down around them.
Without giving too much away, I thought the progression of the women’s stories was true to what their experiences had been and I was pretty satisfied with the ending.

I also really enjoyed the narrator, Julia Atwood, for this book. Her voice matched perfectly with the characters and kept me easily invested in the story.

*Huge thanks to Miles Joris-Peyrafitte & Sara Sheperd, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced audiobook of this novel in exchange for honest review.*
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tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

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

4.0

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ajiinaaa's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
This was such an easy and interesting listen; I was hooked from the start. The plot definitely kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happened, loved all the different points of view. This story also felt so realistic, especially the brainwashing and gaslighting Ben was doing to the ISB members (creeped me out a bit). 
I loved Julia Atwood’s voice, anytime I will see her as a narrator in a book I will instantly buy it! Such an amazing voice. 
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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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

3.25

  The cult in this book was clearly based on the NXIVM cult. If you know quite a bit about it, you'll recognize it is based on that from the get-go.  The writers, apparently, could only come up with one semi-original thing to differentiate the fictional cult in the book, ISB, from NXIVM, other than their locations on opposite sides of the United States. 
   However, it was still an interesting read with me on the edge of my seat. I LOVED the ending! If only that had happened to a certain real-life cult leader. 
   Overall, it was a decent read, though if more characters had been likable it would have improved the book. 


Narrator Rating: 4.0 stars
   The narrator was excellent, they just used some annoying voices that made the book harder to enjoy. 
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