Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

9 reviews

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I couldn't have loved this more. Heart dropping suspense, holler-out-loud plot twists and a touch of pure insanity. This is one of my favorite books of the year so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Stalking, Blood, Murder, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

mckinleyelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Loved it but felt the end was rushed, otherwise it would have been 5/5 for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Death, Gaslighting, Suicide, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dementia, Mental illness, and Infidelity

theboundless_bookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Dementia, Gaslighting, Suicide, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

   When an unhoused woman saves a rich housewife's life, their lives become intertwined in a murder plot. How will they get out alive? 
   I'm torn on rating this book, I enjoyed that it delved into deeper topics, but I also found it a bit predictable at times. I'd say I predicted at least half the twists.
    I enjoyed the happy ending, but I felt it wrapped up too quickly for how drawn out other elements were.
 
 Narrator Rating: 4.5 stars
    Both narrators were amazing! 

Extra ratings: Fluff - 0/5   Heartfelt- 4.5/5   Helpful -NA    Horror -NA    Inspiration -NA    Love aka Romance- 1/5    Mystery -3/5   Predictability -3.75/5    Spice-1/5    Suspense - 3.5/5    Tear- 4/5   Thrill - 4/5    Humor-0/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, Dementia, Classism, Death of parent, and Stalking

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

annaofjesup's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Confinement, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Classism, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Dementia, Bullying, Violence, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Classism, and Body shaming

Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

cheaploaf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Book started off a little slow but was worth the wait to get to the many twists to come! Couldn’t put the book down. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good thriller book. Some parts felt unrealistic but was still an enjoyable read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Gaslighting

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

A woman living in her car gets tangled up in more than she bargained for when she saves the life of a wealthy woman.

Another month, another great book club pick! I really enjoyed this one, which kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat the whole time. The chapters were super short (ALWAYS a plus), and the twists and turns made me excited to keep reading and find out what would happen next. I also really enjoyed the changing POVs, which I thought added a lot of layers and nuance to the story.

I did expect another somewhat more “groundbreaking” reveal at some point, but I think that is just a function of consuming a lot of thrillers and always expecting some massive shock at the eleventh hour. Overall, I thought this was really well paced and the plot unspooled pretty nicely—and while there probably could have been another left turn at the end, I’m not overly mad that there wasn’t. As an added bonus, I actually really liked the main characters (even if I questioned some of their decisions), which can be rare for a thriller and which I always appreciate!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: shifting POVs; psychological thrillers; short chapters

CW: Domestic violence/abuse; dementia; death of parent; discussions of suicide/suicide attempt; discussions of homelessness/poverty

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident, Suicide, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Another solid domestic thriller!! This has definitely become my favorite sub-genre of mystery thrillers. And this one is heavy on domestic twists and suspenseful thrills!!

While it was a little slow to start, the intrigue never stops. It increases with each chapter (short chapters are the best) and throws in punch after punch of “WTF?!“ drama. This one is best if you go in blind, so I won’t say much else except that you will definitely have trust issues after finishing it. 

Robyn Harding is SO GOOD at what she does!! Fans of “Sleeping with the Enemy”, “Gone Girl”, “Killing Eve” and the like should flock to this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Stalking, Vomit, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Cursing, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Gun violence, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt