Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

7 reviews

octopusarms's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, and Infidelity

mxpringle's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

One day maybe I will find a horror novel that doesn't include queer people and women without demonizing and/or victimizing them. I thought it was solidly enjoyable in terms of the writing, but I feel like a lot of the plot and topics explored are tropes that have been overdone, such as Southern small town murders, hitchhikers, etc., though these were intermingled with a few really cool new ideas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Murder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Sexual harassment, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Body horror, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

reggiethebird's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I cannot imagine someone reading this book and thinking "You know what, I want people to experience all this on the big screen." This is one of the most grimy books I've ever read, like "I want to take a shower after reading it" type filthy. I'm not sure there is a good person in all 261 pages who isn't either raped, killed, raped then killed, or killed then raped. This is a book where a bunch of bad people do bad things to other bad people for a whole 3 or 4 intersecting plot arcs. If that's the type of story you like, go for it. If you have any triggers at all, probably skip this one. It's a very ugly tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Blood, Violence, Rape, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, Transphobia, Torture, Abandonment, Infidelity, Body shaming, Cursing, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Ableism

Minor: Cancer, Gaslighting, War, Dementia, Stalking, Car accident, Slavery, and Vomit

bumblebroxbeeblebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

My favorite book of September 2022. Everything about this book was so messed up and wrong but it was so entertaining to read. I haven't listened to an audiobook or read something this fast in a long time. I'm really excited to watch this movie on Netflix.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

There is a ton of trigger warners for this novel so take that into consideration before reading this.

sharbison's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cancer, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Pregnancy

escapinginpaper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Excrement, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Sexual content

Minor: Incest and War

kylajaynebooks's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.5

I only finished it so I can justify watching the movie but oh my god I didn’t like it 😂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit