Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

7 reviews

contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition

3.0

dark 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: No

---

Night Watch tells the story of a family torn apart by the American civil war in 1864 and a family reunited 10 years later in 1874 in the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia.
I struggled with this book. Unfortunately the copy I borrowed from the library was one of the copies with the printing error that must have slipped through the net. But it meant that many of the pages didn't follow one another and that made it very difficult to read and associate with the characters. I enjoyed the setting and the flashback sections to Eliza's and Dearbhla's stories but overall I found it very difficult to enjoy. There was always a disconnect between myself and the characters. I think if I had read the correct errorless version then I may have enjoyed it more but unfortunately this was the only version I had available to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism

megan_martha_reads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad 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: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War

mia_mx's review against another edition

3.0

dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Miscarriage

buradimari's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad

Loveable characters: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Vomit

mbutera0825's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

---

At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this novel. Some parts were difficult to get through because of the content being covered, but I think that made it all the more impactful. I found the ending heartbreaking and yet uplifting-ConaLee definitely became a beloved character for me. I did struggle with the lack of quotation marks at first, but learned to manage it as the book went on. It was impactful for me to see a book set in West Virginia, by an author native to West Virginia as someone living in West Virginia--I think it showcased some of the beauty to the Appalachian tradition. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, War

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence

alisonvh's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

I got this book from my library on a whim, and I’m so glad I did! It’s definitely a darker read than I needed in the present moment, but it’s so I good I didn’t care. I can’t put my finger on what about it I loved so much. Maybe it was just the beautiful writing. Or the nonlinear plot and the way it gives a peek into a character’s history before moving on. It’s not an easy read, but it’s so good!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail

hayreading's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

---

There are a lot of great things about this book. Talking about the effects of the civil war and the lives of mentally disabled individuals, as well as the effects of trauma and how it shows in different people. However, there are several aspects of the book that bring down my rating. The detail of the abuse seems excessive. The lack of quotations makes sense for Weed's perspective, but for the others it feels unnecessary and makes the reading experience more difficult. I wanted to see more about the "bad" wings of the asylum, to understand what their life would be like. The abrupt change in Papa's behavior felt out of place and at odds with the type of abuser he was in the early sections of the book. The Nightwatch dying after suddenly knowing his past felt unrealistic for the rest of the story. Overall, it was a difficult book to read, with many faults, but much of the content was interesting and had much to say.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, Classism