Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

128 reviews

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

yllex's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Vomit, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Body horror, Murder, and Blood

mmwi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Religious bigotry, Vomit, Blood, Mental illness, and Body horror

aykdanroyd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Body horror, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Self harm

devynvictoria's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

Wow! I have had this book recommended to me for years, but I kept putting it off. I found it at the library while I was looking for something else and decided to give it a go— I am so glad I did! This is easily my favorite book of the year so far. There was such a sense of tension and dread the entire book, I loved it. I couldn’t put it down, I needed to know what was going to happen and the ending completely blew me away. This was my first Paul Tremblay novel, but it definitely won’t be my last.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Child death, Cursing, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

katiereadsbooks23's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I would really love Paul Tremblay to stop emotionally destroying me lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Vomit, and Mental illness

abbsgabs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Grief, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Self harm and Excrement

saric7's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Alcohol, Murder, Gore, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Death, Sexual content, Mental illness, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death

smashlebeans's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I try not to open a book with any expectations, but when you have a testimonial from Stephen King right there on the cover claiming it scared the hell out of him, you expect to be terrified. I think going into this book with that expectation set me up for disappointment.

This story is mildly disturbing, but not at all scary, though I did enjoy the twist at the end. The main character and the chapters with the blog posts were a bit annoying at times. Overall, I recommend reading it, but adjust your expectations about the genre of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Suicide, Self harm, Vomit, Violence, and Mental illness

siobhanward's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.5

 So unlike a lot of books I've read where a character has schizophrenia, this one was a little more tactful about it. Tremblay offers an interesting portrait of how mental illness is used against people and has previously been confused with demonic possession - although this book is less about confusion and more about willful ignorance.

I've seen reviewers call this "bad Exorcist fanfiction" but honestly it was more of a love letter to the horror genre - from the references in the blog (including the strong need to debunk the whole show), to the parallels throughout and to my favourite, the choice of names, this whole book is one big reference. If you haven't consumed a lot of horror/paranormal and honestly debunking blog/podcast content, it may not work, but I thought this was cool.

Was it my favourite book? No. I still don't love when we vilify people with mental illness. Marjorie wasn't as harmful a portrayal as others I've read, but she still wasn't great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness