Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Fecioarele by Alex Michaelides

216 reviews

weirdgirlcoded's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

this book was astonishing. 

i was absolutely capitivated by the relationships that were built throughout the story, capitivated by the misdirection of the narrative. while a lot of my prediction was correct, i was also far off in integral ways to the plot. i am absolutely stunned by the way the story ended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Self harm

Minor: Pedophilia

nehaanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I’m not entirely sure what this book accomplishes. It has the twists and turns of any murder mystery but the character development of the female characters is reprehensible. They are written through such a paternalistic and chauvinist viewpoint that it is overpowering to the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, Gore, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

raynie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, and Animal death

bezekrj's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Mental illness

james1star's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

2.5

2.5 ⭐️ 

This has an interesting synopsis and start but definitely fell flat (I’m writing this 2 months after finishing it and literally cannot remember like anything) and was kinda boring. We follow psychologist Mariana who gets a call from her niece saying her friend at Cambridge uni Zoe was found killed so she goes to visit her. Once arriving,  she discovers the weird but adored professor Edward Fosca and his posse of female students called The Maidens. Mariana becomes convinced Edward is the culprit despite having an alibi and basically what ensures is the investigation into what might be lurking behind the university’s dark academic beauty. 

A lot of the book is slow paced, there’s quite a few red herrings and on the whole not much really happens. It speeds up towards the end with a rather rushed conclusion which I found alright but yh, it was just a bit lacklustre and one I didn’t particularly like all that much. I couldn’t really relate to or like the characters all that much, they’re underdeveloped, lacked nuance nor any real complexity. Personally I wouldn’t recommend this but it’s quite a decisive book so you may enjoy it, for me it was rather meh but not terrible. I’m still intrigued to read Michaelides’s other book The Silent Patient which’ll hopefully have more substance to it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Self harm, Mental illness, and Grief

siennaflynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Bullying, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Rape, and Self harm

bibliofrog's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Domestic abuse

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Blood, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Infertility, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Domestic abuse

kshy'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I hated the twist. It would've been more believable if

Fosca had used Zoe to carry out the murders. That way, he wouldn't necessarily have been "innocent", but he also wouldn't have been the murderer, which obviosuly couldn't have been done, as it would've been too predictable. These are the issues that arise when you reveal the "killer" on the first page. It felt sloppy that Sebastian was the one revealed to have been writing the letters, because we weren't given any hints to the fact that he was evil at all. Is it believable that someone, specifically a THERAPIST, could be married to a person for over a DECADE, and not pick up on a single sign or clue that that person was actually a psychopath and had serious psychological isssues and childhood trauma??

I felt that a lot of loose ends were left unexplained, and it felt like the entire book was built up with a ton of information (some of it unnecessary) only for the ending to take a completely opposite and hasty direction.

Henry's presence in the story was completely unnecessary, and served no purpose. The author could literally remove the entire character from the book, and it would have no impact on the plot or our understanding of the other characters.

Also, I have to add that so much of the book was completely unrealistic, specifically with the main character.

Would any sane person ever, specifically a therapist who is used to and knows the inner-workings of troubled minds, WILLINGLY GO ALONE TO DINNER AT THE HOUSE OF THE PERSON THEY SUSPECTED WAS A SERIAL KILLER?!?? It'd be fine if the main character who did this was an unsuspecting, naive individual, but a therapist?!!! Who is extensively and professionally trained on the actions of psychopaths?? Also, the fact that Mariana dismissed Henry when he showed signs of self-harm and simply left without getting him help or calling 911 is wildly unrealistic for a character who is said to be a licensed therapist.

Some things I enjoyed about the book were the author's incorporation of and connections to greek mythology. I love when a book tricks me into learning something I didn't previously know, especially when it is done in an interesting way. I also thought the book was written well, for the most part, and had an intriguing vocabulary. The psychological aspects of it and how it analyzed characters from the mind of a therapist was very interesting, specifically in that it disected the human mind and how events in a person's childhood can alter their mind and impact them for the rest of their life. For that, and for the fact that I was interested enough to keep reading and finish the book, it gets 2 stars. When I began this review, I planned to give it 4 stars, but the more I analyzed and thought about it, the more stars I deducted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Violence, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Infidelity, and Drug use

marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Animal death, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Body horror, Alcohol, Child abuse, Incest, Murder, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis