Ella was supposed to have a fun night with her friends until a crippling headache tied to a recent diagnosis cancels her plans and leaves her babysitting her cousin instead.
But when she arrives at the house, she immediately knows something is wrong. The lights are off, and the door is wide open. But it’s the creeping smell coming from the house that warns Ella of the real danger inside: a gas leak.
In a panic, Ella charges into the house and calls 911. Her aunt and cousins lie unconscious on the floor, and Ella can’t rescue them all.
As Ella tries to recover from the tragic accident, deadly lies begin to seep through the cracks of the investigation, and Ella’s side effects escalate. She’ll soon discover the gas leak might not have been an accident after all, and that someone might be out to kill her next.
Dear lord. Every turn in this book was a left.
Let me start out by saying that Ella is an unreliable narrator. This might be a huge spoiler to some readers, but if you’re like me, you might want to know before you get too far into the book. I usually don’t like books with an unreliable narrator; I never know if what’s happening is real or if it’s all in the narrator’s head. It’s frustrating, and I usually end up being disappointed by the ending. Astonishingly, Ella’s unreliable mindset worked to the story’s advantage.
The title ‘Gaslit’ has multiple meanings. It refers to the gas leak and gaslighting. According to the Educator Guide in the back of the book, “‘gaslighting’ is a term that has become more popular in the last several years, and as a result, its meaning has changed”. I Googled it, and in the simplest of terms, gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse or manipulation in which the abuser purposely makes their victims question their sanity, perception of reality, or memories.
I’d like to say more about this story, but I can’t for the risk of major spoilers.
Overall, this was a chilling psychological thriller with so many twists, you’ll get whiplash.