Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

12 reviews

joanna_banana's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

3.0

I had checked this out of the library several weeks before I started it. Then I got COVID! It was the perfect book to listen to while resting. I didn’t really like Vivian, though I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and was pleased to see that Blair Brown won an Audie for this. The pacing overall seemed a little off - deeply detailed in NYC for the first half or so and then kinda mixed pacing for the rest, you’d get into dialogue and heart wrenching details, and then zoom back out to narration to Angela. I enjoyed the last part, but again, it was odd to have something like 60 years of life covered so quickly. She also got into these monologues on topics like her sex life when she is older and I thought that was too much or could have been woven into the conversations better. And some characters just drop off! Becomes all about Vivian. Overall, I was entertained and the novel offers some thoughtful perspective on the expectations of young women in the 1940s and how that changed or did not change through the decades. I felt like Vivian was fairly self-aware by then end, but also still quite proud and vain in an annoyingly forced way. So, I guess it was just inconsistent for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Biphobia, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Car accident, and Mental illness

ariannalane's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, War, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion and Addiction

Minor: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

kalaser's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief, Car accident, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

ashleereadsbooks692's review against another edition

medium-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: Mental illness, War, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

madelinedalton's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective 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

3.25

In many ways, this felt like a disappointing knockoff of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In many other ways, it’s quite different. As a New Yorker and musical theatre performer myself, I really enjoyed the book’s setting and atmosphere. However, I found Vivian’s reason to write a 470 page novel to answer Angela’s question to be a bit flimsy and self-indulgent. Vivian was pretty one dimensional and unlikable until the last ~100 pages of the book. I understand that that was sort of the point—that she had to outgrow this shallow existence—but I also found characters who the author consistently claimed were complex to be rather flat, so I think it was a writing flaw. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, War, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Alcohol, Abortion, Body shaming, Mental illness, Pregnancy, War, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Misogyny

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted reflective 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

4.25

I enjoyed this very much and moved through it quickly. Ms. Gilbert has quite a knack for fiction, which surprised me a little because not everyone can do both fiction and non-fiction so well. A fun tale of the young and stupid days of our 20s, and the selfishness that keeps us alive. Also very interesting look at the impact of war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pregnancy, War, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Death

Minor: Abortion

lotten4's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-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

4.5

I really liked the ambiance. (Also, good writing)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, War, Alcohol, Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

m4rtt4's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

Didn't expect to like it as much as I did! Time travelling through books has always been nice, and this time it was genuinely FUN and addicting as well. But why the f was the book written in the form of a letter? That was completely unnecessary, and I don't think the story would have been any less interesting had it just been about Vivian (as it already was), without the constant remarks to "Angela". I mean, NOBODY writes letters 500 pages long to explain anything, let alone something like this. I didn't really like Vivian either, sometimes she was painfully insufferable. However, I did like her story, and that's what matters. I might have fallen in love with the dusty, cigarette-reeking yet compelling Lily Playhouse as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and War

Moderate: Medical trauma, Infidelity, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Minor: Biphobia and Antisemitism

laurenw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book started off as a fun romp, and then slowly drew me deeper into its world and characters. Vivian is such a human character, wonderfully scuplted, and her life's story provided much entertainment. Reading this was like making a new friend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Antisemitism, Classism, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Death

Minor: Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Terminal illness