Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

13 reviews

fantaiil's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Fredrik Bakmann is and will always be my favourite author. And this is his best one yet (in my opinion).
I love his words, his characters and how he makes me cry while talking about humans and their inability of saying, what they want to say.

This book is about love, despair, kids, dumb choices, pizza, love, marriage, kids and their parents, money, capitalism, love and a bridge. It's about the connection between people and the irrational things we do, when we feel emotions that are to big to describe.

Backman is a magician. A magician of words and sentences and making one feel and cry and laugh and feel once again.

I wish, I could buy this book a thousand times and gift it to everyone I know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Self harm, Murder, Blood, Violence, Grief, Addiction, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Gun violence

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this after devouring “A Man Called Ove” (I watched “A Man Called Otto” on Netflix recently and I loved it) To be honest, I laughed so much during the witness interviews because all of them were acting so odd. As the story progressed, I understood why. My heart goes to everyone who is struggling in general. But as I always said, psychological issues are close to my heart (I’m a Psych graduate) 

My heart always breaks when parents and children struggle because of the cruel economy. 

Anna Leah, Zara, Julia, Ro, Roger, Lennert, Estelle, the bank robber, you guys are the best bunch because instead of judging the “robber” you guys were pretty understanding. It made me reflect on my life once again. 

Oh, I like the progress Zara had with Nadia (psychologist). Every character was distinct and also inclusive of queer people. As a mom, I empathize with Ro and the bank robber’s burdens. It’s really hard to be a parent. No one is perfect as we all know, but we should always be decent human beings as long as we can. 

Oh, Jim and Jack were so relatable as a father, son, and colleague police officers. Jim also understood the bank robber because he knew how hard it was to survive and raise kids. Jack did learn a lesson or two about empathy. Great touch💙

Fredrik, you’re starting to be one of my favorite authors. More power💕 P. S. I heard that there’s a series adaptation of this book, I will watch it for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Alcohol, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Self harm

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

2.0

This book was a disappointment and I should have DNF’d a while ago. But by the time I realized the storyline was bland, I was already more than halfway through. I finished but ultimately it wasn’t great. I gave 2 stars because it was funny on occasion and had a unique plot. There was some good character development but overall it wasn’t great. It was cheesy, slow, and the timeline made things confusing for me. I thought the robber was a male until 75% of the way through and realized they were a female?? I don’t know how I didn’t realize that beforehand? Or if it was on purpose? I’m not sure. Anyway, I would not recommend. 
I would compare this book to “Normal People” but more funny. Still depressing though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Suicide

trappaport's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

katstu1's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Self harm, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Suicide attempt

paigemarian's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book from start to finish was completely unexpected. To be honest I don’t know what I had thought the storyline would be but this certainly wasn’t it. I loved every second of it. 

It was not predictable but it was absolutely loveable! I think this is a great book for someone who may be struggling with mental health. However, even if you aren’t I also believe it gives great insight to how others are experiencing life. 

Water works: 3/5 💧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

amvera's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

mapscitiesandsongs's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Self harm

mandi4886's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Stalking, Terminal illness, War, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

stllyltc's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

5.0

It took me a long time to finish this book and I'm glad I finally got through it. The storytelling, the plot, the characters, the twists and turns - this book is so good and highly relatable which follows through a theme of empathy. The first few chapters I had a good laugh over the humorous and witty flow of the story how the hostage drama began with stories of over 10 people captured one by one. Oft times I'd get goosebumps from theorizing some scenarios that would somehow end up the way I thought it would and even more goosebumps from heartwarming moments that unfolded throughout. I think a character that had lasted an impression on me was Zara (not only because of her name) but because of her personality and the way she does things (some might've frowned upon due to her demeanor) as it all made sense. The book left a lot of good life lessons that were both eyeopening and inspiring, one of my fave is, "You saved yourself. He just happened to be there." And the moment I saw this line, I teared up. I was really curious why the book was entitled the way it was and eventually I understood what it meant. I think this book is going to be one of my ultimate favorite novels to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt