Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Ghosts We Keep

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

26 reviews

shiradfrankel's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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courtknee__vn's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is so heartbreakingly messy in the most real way. Grief is so complicated and painful and everyone deals with it differently and that is so honestly told with each of the characters in this story. Liam was the perfect narrator and having to see how much they were struggling with was devastating 😭 there were points in the story where I just didn’t like each characters but I think that was so important because there are always points in peoples lives where they are at their worst and if you’re not allowed to be unlikable while your grieving, I’m not sure when you can. Honestly, this is probably not a book I should’ve read right now when I’m personally not mentally at my best but making myself more sad when I’m down is something I’m way too good at 😅 but anyway, this book was beautiful but please check trigger warnings before picking it up!

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bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book felt very raw, and close to what it make look like if we could really sit inside someone’s head while the experienced such a devastating loss at such a young age. Mason tackles grieving in a way that is less like a Hallmark movie and much more like real life. I particularly like how Liam’s relationship with his Mom was explored. I also liked the before sections that gave us insight into Ethan that contextualizes the impact his death has on those who knew him. I found Liam’s relationship with his friends hard to read, and felt some information was missing and more about that aspect could’ve been shown better in the story.

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midnightbelles's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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martereadsbooks's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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giou's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Content Warnings

atmreads's review against another edition

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5.0

I just… fuck- that was a hard book. I cried, no, I sobbed reading it. Part of that is definitely because of when I read it. It took me 2 days to finish the audiobook. I started it in the morning on my way to school, and that evening my family found out that some family members had died in a car accident. So yeah, this book hit really close to home with the whole pivotal moment being Lee’s brother dying in a car accident.

This is a story about grief and loss and pain and just being so fucked up because of all of it. It was so hard to read, I had to pause the audiobook and just sit multiple times.

I felt so deeply connected to Lee, I felt their pain. It was so… raw. I’ve never lost someone as close as a brother or a parent, but the pain they felt, the things he experienced. It resonated with me so much.

When Lee starts losing his friends and starts feeling like they will always be third wheeling, second best, I felt that pain. The pain that comes with losing people you thought cared about you, people you love and you assumed loved you back. Friendships falling apart because you just don’t see each other, friendships falling apart because shit hit the fan for you and they couldn’t handle it. It sucks, it really does, and even if it wasn’t necessarily about them being a “bad” person or you being a “bad” friend. It sucks, it /hurts/.

The anxiety it sent him into, where they were worried constantly about what V and Joel thought of him. The depression it sent Lee into where they couldn’t /do/. I felt that in the deepest parts of my soul. I remembered the younger me who was heavily depressed for those same reasons in middle school. Who had friends abandoning them left and right, who couldn’t handle those feelings but couldn’t tell anyone. The younger me who thought friendship was forever, until suddenly it wasn’t. That pain and loss and sorrow is so real and somehow so fresh? Even though it was years ago for me, reading about it in a book made it feel new again. It reopened those wounds, but not in a bad way. It allowed me to process it, and understand it more. I know we all joke about books being a coping mechanism, but this story truly helped me. It helped me get through the fresh trauma of loss without completely spiraling. It helped me to heal some of that trauma I never truly recovered from.

And the fact that Lee is non binary, it made me feel like me and my grief had a place in this story. It made it feel like this story was a safe space for me to explore my feelings. Lee is non-binary and he’s gay and they use two sets of pronouns. And they have to remind people that they aren’t a boy the same way I try to remind people that I’m not a girl. God, Mason Deaver truly writes the best non-binary characters. I don’t think my gender has ever been so perfectly represented until I read their books.

This book is challenging, sad, and painful. It’s intense and very triggering for many. But for me it was worth it, I came out of it with such a sense of, not happiness, but relief. Relief that joy can be found in those hard times and complicated feels. Relief that I can make it through those hard times and difficult feelings.

This book will forever hold a place in my heart, it will forever be a favorite, I will forever come back to it.

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