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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
Goodbye, Again: Essays, Reflections, and Illustrations by Jonny Sun
10 reviews
elisalasater's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
cartermon4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Vomit and Mental illness
robinks's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
A lot of the stories really resonated with me and made me think. I especially loved On staying with friends; How to cook scrambled eggs; “Go slow;” On presence; Plants are already there, too; Something that Elissa told me once that I repeat to myself every day; Goodbye, again; and Your last 15 minutes before the end of the world, ranked from worst to best (I think I’ve read this last one somewhere before, and it is just as emotional reading it again). I also loved the juxtaposition and mirroring of Visiting happiness and Visiting sadness. I loved the varying formats and the inclusion of the drawings, which really amplified some of the stories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Dysphoria, and Mental illness
johnbat's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Mental illness
marissasa's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.5
This collection of essays and musings was full of emotion, hope, thought, and love. Although some pieces didn't quite hit the mark for me, as I find in pretty much all essay or short story collections, the majority of them felt relatable, thought-provoking, or simply nice to read. As a plant lover, I adored the theme of houseplants and their presence in the author's life throughout the book. It made me realize that a house or room doesn't feel like a home to me without plants, as they hold so much life and meaning to me for some reason. It is pleasant to see that they are the same way for the author and that something so simple and small can really be the main source of hope and positivity in your day. I loved the quiet but impactful ways the author talked about his family, his Asian identity, his friends, and his mental health. My favorite piece by far is "Your last 15 minutes before the end of the world, ranked from worst to best" and it truly lives in my head rent free. This and a handful of beautiful quotes will stick with me for a long time.
"We might not speak to each other for months, sometimes even years, knowing that we are always one message away from each other but the ease of that closeness means we can talk at any time, and so there is no specific urgency to do so, and so we put it off, and we put it off, and we put it off."
"The act of taking care of plants, every day, over the courses of months and years, has helped show me that life takes time, but with time, life, for the most part, seems to generally know what to do."
"We might not speak to each other for months, sometimes even years, knowing that we are always one message away from each other but the ease of that closeness means we can talk at any time, and so there is no specific urgency to do so, and so we put it off, and we put it off, and we put it off."
"The act of taking care of plants, every day, over the courses of months and years, has helped show me that life takes time, but with time, life, for the most part, seems to generally know what to do."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
recorderkfk's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Jonny Sun, brings a poignant, at times chuckle worthy melancholy to life's transitions and daily trials in work and plant care. Some essays end with genuine notes of aimlessness or despair while others lift just the edge of hope with a subtle illustration. It's a great coffer table book or gift for someone who has moved and said goodbye alot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness
anil's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.75
I picked this up because I read 'Your last 15 minutes before the end of the world, ranked from worst to best' which is one of the essays in here and which the author posted somewhere (Twitter I think).
Unfortunately that one is by far the best in this book, the rest range from just fine to meh. They are often very personal but unfortunately in ways that I found neither interesting nor relatable.
It's not terribly written though. I suspect this may be a better reading experience for someone who is not me.
Unfortunately that one is by far the best in this book, the rest range from just fine to meh. They are often very personal but unfortunately in ways that I found neither interesting nor relatable.
It's not terribly written though. I suspect this may be a better reading experience for someone who is not me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death and Grief
zombiezami's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Deeply melancholy. Just felt the desire to reach out a hand at every mention of loneliness, but I feel like a lot of people in our generation are going through similar things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Minor: Vomit
readalongwithnat's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I received a free ARC from Harper Perennial in exchange for my honest review.
Easily one of my favorite books of the year so far. The essays in this book are raw and vulnerable when discussing mental health and the specific sort of grief that occurs when you move from a place you've called home, leaving everyone else behind. There are heartfelt essays about plants and how they have impacted Sun throughout his life. And there's 15 straight pages of egg recipes that are emotional and funny and exactly how I want all recipes to be from now on. I didn't even make it through the foreword of this book without it tugging on my heart strings and that didn't stop until long after I closed this book.
Easily one of my favorite books of the year so far. The essays in this book are raw and vulnerable when discussing mental health and the specific sort of grief that occurs when you move from a place you've called home, leaving everyone else behind. There are heartfelt essays about plants and how they have impacted Sun throughout his life. And there's 15 straight pages of egg recipes that are emotional and funny and exactly how I want all recipes to be from now on. I didn't even make it through the foreword of this book without it tugging on my heart strings and that didn't stop until long after I closed this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
literaryinfatuation's review
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
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