Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Verdade Sobre o Caso Harry Quebert by Joël Dicker, Isabel St. Aubyn

31 reviews

staghunters's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Not the genre I go to most of the time, but Dicker surely knows how to write a compelling murder mystery. 
The first thought that comes to mind is the resemblance with Twin Peaks. Not only in the murder of a teenage girl, but particularly in the focus on the small town and the people in it. As the book progresses and we come to know a bit more about Nola Kellergan, the threads that connect her to various side characters.

Marcus, however, is not a good-natured Dale Cooper. His bloated ego shines through till well into the second act, where an incident confronts him with his fame-seeking nature. Though a change in character is not dramatic, he does improve in smaller ways.
The plot has an interesting structure. The chapters count down instead of up, Marcus' storyline is intercut with scenes that take the place of someone's monologue, and what seems to be the end actually isn't. 
The latter is also one of my critiques of the book. It is quite slow-paced for all but the last 2 or 3 chapters. Here, the events really rake up and gain speed. It answers questions, sure, but in my opinion, there were a bit too many rug-pulls. Maybe they will make more sense on a reread.

This certainly made me curious about Dicker's other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Mental illness and Racism

ly_lysee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism and Pedophilia

btrz7's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

Don't know what I just read.
I feel like most of the characters were these stereotype/charicature mesh, with absolutely absurd details about some of the side characters. In the end, all of the twists and turns at the end weren't enough to convince me, as I felt it was just taking too long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Car accident, Death, Grief, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

jazful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I couldn't stop reading! I didn't see all the plot twists coming, although with other mystery novels I actually figure out what it's about very quickly. This book was just completely different. Probably the best mystery novel I've ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical trauma

ging090803's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

2.5

I felt terrible giving it only 2 stars that's why I gave the 2.5 stars. 
Honestly, I understand the idea. It was a great idea. The plot is good... But oh men, it was so long. I am sure the mysterious death of Nola could have been solved way faster than that. I don't understand why, all book long, we had a suspect then no suspect then too many suspects, etc etc. We were circling around everything for 800 pages. I'm sure I would have loved how it was written (between present and past from the author's POV) normally but not this time. It was only confusing and eternal. 
If someone wants a recommendation from me, I will say that there are other great mystery books before this one... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Stalking, Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Car accident and Sexual content

jonathanovd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

_remi__'s review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide

lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Violence, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Self harm, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual content

bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The Truth About the Harry Querbert Affair
By: Joel Dicker, Translated by Sam Taylor
Marcus Goldman has had a successful first novel, but now he needs to write his sophomore novel, but he’s having writer’s block. He contacts his old mentor Harry Quebert and visits him in the sea side town where he lives. He discovers Harry had a love affair with a 15-year-old girl, and not too long after Marcus has found out, the girl’s body is discovered buried in Harry’s yard.
I almost DNFed this book, but I was interested enough to find out what happened to Nola Kellergan, the girl. I also wanted to know if Harry Querbert was guilty of murdering her, not just pedophile. As beautiful as his words were about their love affair, he was still 35 years old. Harry started out as charming and likable but as the story progressed, he became a character I got frustrated, annoyed with, and pitied. I did not understand how he could love a girl so young and how she had so much power over him, though it made a little more sense once everything was revealed, but only by a little bit. Marcus was the opposite. He started out as self-centered and arrogant person, but as the story goes on you see him grow and learn. Nola was such a mystery and I didn’t know how to feel about her. She instilled mixed feelings in my opinions on her and I didn’t know if I disliked her or felt sorry for her. By the end it was latter. The novel is very readable and unputdownable, despite the temptation to DNF it. Unfortunately, the book is little too long for me. I felt like it could have been cut down by 200 pages. There were times when it felt like it could have ended, but a new twist or red herring would be revealed. The book did surprise me quite a bit with all the red herrings on who murdered Nola. I didn’t see the end coming, but it made sense how it turned out, and felt bittersweet, it felt right with the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

katieelizabeth_reads's review against another edition

mysterious sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Pedophilia