Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

9 reviews

alienexpert's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

An interesting read contemplating mortality and what drives us to stay alive. It held my attention well and I found the formatting of journal entries with theories about the end of the world every couple of ‘chapters’ to be very fluid and helped framing the timeline. I would say there were a few parts that did feel more YA aligned, but nothing that led to me being disengaged with the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Bullying, Death, and Gaslighting

jeweleemc's review

tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Rape, Grief, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Suicide, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

alexis_mai's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, and Self harm

Minor: Homophobia

tetetaeskz's review

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

davidbythebay's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

I am crying. Wow. I was a little skeptical based on the premise, but it did intrigue me enough to read this. I am so glad I did. This book sums up life in the best way: we keep marching on even if we don't have the answers and we can never get them. This was amazing, BUT check the trigger warnings! 

I was so enthralled by this, I lost track of time while reading. It was an immensely entertaining and sometimes sad book that brought sad tears and happy tears to my eyes. Beautifully written, this took a teenager's point of view but made him mature, yet adolescent. Henry was not a child and he was not an adult caught in a child's body. As Henry is gay, like many LGBTQ+ people, he has grown up and matured early so that he can combat the bullying and dangers of this world. His situation has provided even more instances by which he has had to grow up far too fast. I can't tell you how many times I've been told or my LGBTQ+ friends have been told how mature we are for our ages. It comes with the territory I guess. But having this mature teenaged perspective is dead on perfect. 

I am absolutely going to read more by this author given how wonderful this book is. 


⚠️ TW: violence, physical violence, abuse, parental abandonment, bullying, depression, suicide and suicidal ideation, sexual assault, pregnancy, miscarriage, loss, grief, neglectful parent, memory loss, talk of sexual situations (not in detail). ⚠️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Child abuse

rachelwierick's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

2.75

Everyone in this book sucks. Audrey is the only character with half a brain. The only reason I stuck with this book was because it had an intriguing premise, but it ended up being really disappointing. I’m glad this was a library book and I didn’t spend any money on it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

nicole134340's review

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.0

sad and slow af

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

rachellle's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

I first read this book a few years ago. Since then I've been apprehensive to reread it, even small parts of it. The homophobia in the book is challenging to read, but I think the story overall is quite interesting. The narration from Henry is very blunt which I found enjoyable.

Some parts are difficult to read, and I ended up skipping over the bullying parts. The push and pull in Henry as he's experiencing this is what made these plot points bearable and interesting. 

I honestly think I won't pick up this book again. It's just one of those really intense books you read in middle school and then think back on and wonder how you processed it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Mental illness

jennasoltis's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I couldn’t put this book down and it’s a book that I still think about to this day. One of my favorites.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief and Outing