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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-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
This was an amazing book. It was a very interesting look into the mind, and the ending was neither unrealistically happy, nor a "someone went out of their way to make this depressing"ly sad. It was a realistic, good ending. I would recommend this to anyone who likes books that delve into the mind.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this book for book club. It isn’t one I would normally pick up and I honestly didn’t have high expectations, but it was really great! I will say that you should proceed with caution if you have a weak stomach about medical content and injuries (there are a few scenes I wish I didn’t read).
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
‘i never promised you a rose garden’ is a semi autobiographical novel that follows a teenage girl’s years in a mental hospital and the imaginary kingdom inside of her head. it’s not an easy read but it’s incredibly interesting.
I feel bad that I didn't hear of this book sooner. This should receive similar praise to "the bell jar."
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“Somewhere, even under the volcano itself, was the buried seed of will and strength” and “The sick are all so afraid of their own uncontrollable power! Somehow they cannot believe that they are only people, holding only a human-sized anger!” and “He was frightened of the craziness he saw around him because it was an extension of something inside himself” and “They looked at each other and smiled, knowing that ‘D’ was not the “worst ward at all, only the most honest” and “Somewhere inside Deborah an awful ache rose, a recent but now familiar ache which she had begun to identify with Yri words - an ache hiding the ancient and fearsome English word: Truth” and “The doctor put a hand up, but the joy of self-loathing had taken Deborah as fully as if it had been love, and she went on and on, decorating and embellishing the foulness, throwing words higher and higher” and “She felt a slow, fearful gratitude to her family, who had lived with a monster and treated it like a person” and “I could still be crazy if I wanted to?” and “Do you think you could compete with my smallest nightmare on its dullest day?” and “Measure the hate you feel now, and the shame. That quantity is your capacity to love and to feel joy and to have compassion” and “And if I fight, then for what? ‘For nothing easy or sweet. For your own challenge, for your own mistakes and the punishment for them, for your own definition of love and sanity - a good strong self with which to begin to live” and “the slow, opening hope” and “Don’t let them torture you every time you let some of the world’s good light in your windows” and “On the way up the stairs it came to her that perhaps - no, perhaps was too strong - that three shorts of maybe, she might be more than only an ex-almost-murderess. She might be something more nearly - the word hit like a fist, but it was there and she could not cancel it or keep it out of her mind - more nearly good” and “the little, little Maybe” and “But she remembered the smell of the rain” and “Carla… if I weren’t scared to death of it, I’d be so grateful!” and “Alive is fighting” and “‘To all gods and Collects of all the worlds: No more burnings and no more fires, for I seem to be bound -‘ She had begun to cry because of the terror and joy of it. ‘I seem to begin to be bound to this world…” and “the Hard Rind” and “Sick or well you are one of the dancers” and “You have no corner on suffering” and “It had taken all of her capacities, every drop of her will, to come as far as they had come laughing and easy. The wall between them was still there and it would always be there. She could see through it now, to where the world offered its immense beauty, but she would burn away all her strength, just staying alive” and “Nevertheless. In spite of it. No matter what.” and “Full weight” and the Afterword.
This book exists in the bones of my soul
This book exists in the bones of my soul
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
It's amazing how much you can understand by waiting 7 years to re-read a book. I was assigned this book in high school but was so confused by it back then that I never finished it.
I know now that then I did not fully understand the complexities of the mind - I still don't, but I truly enjoyed reading this book again. At times it challenged me, but I love that about books.
I think, in a way, I can relate to Deborah now that I'm older. She created an entire world to escape into when the real world grew to be too much for her to bear. Sometimes I wish I could do that for a while, so I write instead.
I know I had never really been depressed back in high school, so I couldn't understand her struggles. In college, I know I was depressed during clinically, but I got through it with the help of my family. This book has made me feel better about myself, and I have been empowered with the knowledge that no matter how bad things may seem, they WILL get better.
I know now that then I did not fully understand the complexities of the mind - I still don't, but I truly enjoyed reading this book again. At times it challenged me, but I love that about books.
I think, in a way, I can relate to Deborah now that I'm older. She created an entire world to escape into when the real world grew to be too much for her to bear. Sometimes I wish I could do that for a while, so I write instead.
I know I had never really been depressed back in high school, so I couldn't understand her struggles. In college, I know I was depressed during clinically, but I got through it with the help of my family. This book has made me feel better about myself, and I have been empowered with the knowledge that no matter how bad things may seem, they WILL get better.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes