Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Don't Tell a Soul by Kirsten Miller

7 reviews

bea_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Alcohol, and Suicide

sofiatea32's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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'm such a horror/creepy junkie and this one is right up my genre-alley. Bram was a well-written mc and the plot was very impressive and creepy. Slow at first, yet ramps up and is enjoyable the whole way through.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

elwirax's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 
"Nothing will change if we stay quiet" 

I'm a sucker for close knit communities and the small town vibes in this book were great. I liked that although this is a Young Adult novel there was a strong sense of female impowerment and girls supporting eachother while also leaning towards the more mature side, dealing with issues such as drug addiction and sexual assault. There was no romance in this books which I always greatly appreciate as well as the fact that there were reliable male characters who weren't all "villains". 

However, I think this would appeal more to people who are new to the mystery/ thriller genre and don't know which tropes to expect. It didn't have the thrill factor I usually look for and everything seemed to be resolved too quickly by the end of the book. 

Overall, "Don't Tell a Soul" wasn't a bad read by any means. There were definitely aspects which were interesting, I was just expecting a little more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Forced institutionalization

catgirl_luna's review

This was not at all what I thought it was going to be. It feels like a slog now trying to get through it so I am not wasting my time with this anymore. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use, Addiction, Death of parent, Rape, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Stalking

I didn't like that Bram was shamed for having a drug addiction after seeing her father and aunt dead. Too much shaming of a child who went through a serious problem and then was treated terribly for the rest of the time by family. I know this is fiction but there had to be at LEAST 1 person from her past that would have cared or at least gave one care about her that wasn't in Louth.

serenadoodles_'s review

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

lpniskanen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

whatellisreadnext's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐'𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵.

All Bram wants is to disappear. The only place she can go is to Louth, a small town where her Uncle James is in the process of renovating an old mansion. The house is creepy, but so are the locals. They don't want outsiders infecting their town, and most frightening of all, are the stories they tell of the girls who died in the very house Bram now calls home. 

Big creepy house? ✔ Sad protagonist? ✔ Small town? ✔ Several unravelling mysteries? ✔ Things that go bump in the night? ✔ This book is AMAZING. It had all the elements I love in a ghost story, and then some. I am so thankful to this creepy cover for grabbing my attention. I am obsessed.

It is very rare I give young adult novels a 5 star rating, they have to really knock my socks off. Don't Tell A Soul was that good. It felt like a mash up of The Haunting of Bly Manor and Truly Devious. You're scared, but you're also dying to unravel all of the mysteries surrounding the house. I really struggled to put it down.

Bram is such a fantastic protagonist, I loved reading her unconventional coming of age story. How she rose from the ashes, and her strength grew throughout the book was just wonderful. She was all heart; helping people she barely knew, determined to bring justice upon those that deserved it. 

If you're looking for a character driven ghost story/mystery that'll keep you on your toes, I couldn't recommend this enough!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness