Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

127 reviews

simp4sneks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Child death, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

defeating_my_demons's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm

august_18's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Gore, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Minor: Gaslighting and Bullying

kingcrookback'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

This book had me for the vast majority of its duration. The themes of memory and nostalgia; Marjorie and teenage girlhood and not being believed or taken seriously; childhood, facing the unknown, and pasts you can't return to. The story progressed in accordance with the sort of tropes and motifs typically associated with both possession narratives and stories about reminiscence. The blog posts dedicated to deconstructing the Barretts' reality show vis à vis popular horror media put a fascinating turn on the question of memory and moving on from trauma. Even though the narrative was on the side of Marjorie being a mentally ill young girl, some of Merry's description of her memories is genuinely chilling.

The only thing I can't get over is that the ending - and the reveal - felt so incredibly abrupt. I feel like we got very little buildup to the reveal and no time to process its impact on both the narrative as well as our perception of the story. I don't know. I think I need to sit with this a bit longer, maybe convince a friend to read it so I can talk to them about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content and Incest

vicklepickle's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder and Physical abuse

savvylit's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A Head Full of Ghosts is a well-crafted possession story made even more horrible and thrilling due to the youth of its primary narrator, seven-year-old Merry. Like many younger siblings, Merry worships teenage Marjorie and longs for her attention. Merry's voice is so genuine in this story - I was really impressed by Tremblay's skill at evoking the specific terror that comes from being a child who is kept out of the loop. Despite her naivete, Merry is still so deeply and traumatically affected by the events of Marjorie's possession.

This story is also delightfully meta! There are a series of blog posts by a horror fanatic included throughout the novel. Reading the blog's dissection of the events of this story with comparisons to tropes and classic cinema made for a very fun read.

If you like thrillers that have fresh takes on classic themes, you will definitely enjoy A Head Full of Ghosts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child abuse, and Death

g_xandra's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Vomit, Sexual content, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishchaos's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

4.5

The plot was very well constructed and quite unique. All the twists held my attention and the writing was good. The ending was extremely sad and unexpected but well executed. I wouldn't say it was "scary" but definitely unsettling. Would recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

lottieingham'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Vomit

jesscoast's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. Ive ventured into a few horror novellas before but this was truly haunting. Ideal for a horror movie buff who gets the references to the iconic pop culture moments and classics scattered throughout the book. But even as someone like myself who hasn't seen many scary films, this was worth the read. From a mystery and thriller standpoint, it caught me off guard how well crafted it was. Tremblay takes is down a dark, depressing, uncomfortable rabbit hole of a struggling family dealing with religion, a child's behavioral issue, financial stress, marital tension. A silver bullet arrives in the form of a reality TV show to offer financial relief in return for giving up their privacy and facing the wrath of protest. Just when you think that's about as heavy as it can get, Tremblay turns the whole narrative on its head.

The meta stories within stories framed around the family, the reality tv show, and online analysis of the show was brilliant. It kept my eyes glued to the page and I couldn't get enough.

If you think a story about a teenaged girl acting out can't be chilling, think again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Excrement, and Mental illness