Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Bewilderment by Richard Powers

21 reviews

jaynovara's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Mental illness, Child death, and Car accident

Minor: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Infidelity

hollyd19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? No

4.75

Reading Bewilderment felt like diving without an oxygen tank, knowing that when you break to go to the surface the coral will disappear, so you hold your breath until it hurts and keep your eyes wide because the beauty is overwhelming but the panic is setting in, too.

Bewilderment follows Theo, an astrophysicist widower, and his young, neurodiverse son named Robin. The two are attempting to navigate their increasingly unstable world, on a personal level after the loss of their wife/mom & in terms of climate change and political unrest. When Robin is threatened with expulsion for an outburst at school, Theo enrolls him in a neurofeedback study happening at his university, which sets in motion the rest of the book. 

This was my first Powers and I was very moved by his writing. I took so many notes and highlighted several passages. Relatedly, I felt that Robin’s neurodiversity was portrayed with tenderness and honesty. 

Now some minor spoilers to talk about why it wasn’t an unequivocal five stars.

I strongly dislike gratuitous tragedy and since the rest of the book felt masterfully subdued, I was pretty bothered by the revelation that Aly was pregnant when she died. It added nothing. In a similar vein, I was unsatisfied with how Powers wrote the bit about Aly’s possible infidelity. At first it was guardedly hinted at, but when Theo asks “Is he mine?” it felt a bit ham-handed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Animal death, and Self harm

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

keatynbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, Mental illness, Child death, and Death

kah296's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

I thought this book was PHENOMENAL. In my opinion, it was better than The Overstory. The writing and characters were just gorgeous and it was well-paced. My only complaint is that the end felt a bit rushed. Even so, I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time and will be recommending it to friends and family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Death of parent, Animal death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Car accident and Ableism

shiftoptiondash's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, and Mental illness

elliannasedona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

scocco32's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Grief, and Mental illness

rynicolereads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

This was my first time reading anything by Powers, but I now understand why many praise his writing. I wanted to flag or underline nearly every line because his words capture nature's magic in such stunning ways.
 
"Through the circle of trees, so sharp it seemed within easy reach, the Milky Way spilled out—countless speckled placers in a black streambed. If you held still, you could almost see the stars wheel."

I was nervous that I wouldn't connect with the science fiction part of the story, but I ended up enjoying those moments. This book feels more literary than SciFi, which is likely why it worked so well for me. I had a few qualms with some of the character's actions and decisions, but I don't personally need to love a character to love a book. Overall, I found Bewilderment to be incredibly moving and so beautifully written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal cruelty

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Mental illness

emmagrace's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity and Self harm