Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

35 reviews

bookswithisabel's review against another edition

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Deportation, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Racism, Mental illness, and Drug use

Minor: Vomit

jdianm's review

tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Abandonment, Deportation, Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, and Sexual content

Minor: Eating disorder, Police brutality, and Homophobia

isaarusilor's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, and Child abuse

jessalex610's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A very relatable story about a young freshly out of college person, trying to figure out her sexuality and her way in the world, while bringing in a refreshing immigrant perspective. I cried many times. I screamed many times. But mostly I just felt a very deep sense of relatability and comfort that I am not the only young person also struggling to figure out what their life is in their mid-20s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Mental illness, and Addiction

Minor: Transphobia

alysereadsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-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

4.5

I loved this book! Really captures the millennial landscape and explores so much in one book (immigration, trauma, LGBT relationships, depression). Deserves a reread! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

janaptrsn's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Truly an extraordinarily beautifully complex novel. What drew me in was the cover art, of course; the fact that it played in Milwaukee, a city I have personal ties to; and the perspective of a queer brown immigrant. From the first few pages, I was drawn into the setting of the book by its beautiful prose, which in some parts still felt like reading a diary or text from a friend. Reading „All this could be different“ feels like being inside a complex, reflective, stubborn, colorful, hurt, loving, sad mind. While I could relate so some experiences, I could also grasp other experiences I had bo personal relation to. The characters in this book are multi-faceted and refreshingly human. This book captures life so far in the twenty-first century from an intensely realistic lense and touches on many important societal issues. It is painful and soothing at the same time. It is real, and I would recommend it to every human out there. Thank you Sarah Thankam Mathews, I am so looking forward to your future work!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Suicide, Self harm, Police brutality, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Transphobia

moniipeters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Deadnaming, Deportation, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Rape

nicoleisalwaysreading's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia

isareader's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

As many others voiced in the reviews, the beginning of this book was the most difficult for me  to enjoy — I found the protagonist a little immature and her views and irrational outbursts hard to understand… but maybe this is just a reflection of what it is like to be young… 

The most impressive and heart-warming part of the book to me is the importance of platonic love and close friendship. The love the friends have for the protagonist is so dearly touching, and to me, more enjoyable than the romance aspect in the book. 

My biggest critique and issue with the book was how many serious topics (see content warnings) are attempted to be covered in the book and seem too glossed over to me, especially the struggle with mental health and political struggles. Though perhaps this is also just a hard-hitting reality.

Overall, an impressive & quite beautifully-written first novel of Matthews with an overall theme of longing and a representation of so many characters that we don’t often read about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia, Hate crime, and Homophobia

patedm's review

challenging emotional reflective 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

3.0

Need more of Tig and their story with KJ and their lovers/wife and just everything about them.

This is definitely a book where I found myself more drawn to the side characters than the main character. And that’s okay because who wouldn’t fall in love with Tig, as I right? They’re the best! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Child abuse