Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

16 reviews

akswhy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

A good sci-fi novel, but a bit of a drag as a thriller. The last third was weakest. A little misogynistic at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

nworba's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

keiraonyxraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5 stars 

 

Dark Matter is a gripping sci-fi thriller filled with scientific theories, unexpected dangers and emotional turmoil. The Novel follows our main character, Jason, after he is abducted by a masked stranger and his ordinary cosy life is suddenly snatched away. Jason would do anything to return to his beloved wife, Daniela, and son, Charlie, but now they are worlds apart and separated by an infinite number of choices. 

 

I adored this novel. It had me on the edge of my seat, gasping in shock and even in tears from the sheer emotion of Jason’s situation. I was simply gripped from the beginning, from the perfect blend of thriller, action and heart this novel contained. Not only did Crouch create an interesting and compelling story, they also managed to portray the hopelessness and agony of losing a loved one and the lengths humans would go to be reunited with the people they care about most. It’s not easy to get a reader to truly care about fictional characters but I really related to Jason and felt genuine sympathy and heartbreak for his character. For all this, I have nothing but praise for this novel and the author.

 

Overall this was a fantastic read and I would highly recommend this novel to any readers with even a passing interest in science fiction, thrillers or the horror of true infinity.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

abbiechron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book WRECKED me. Incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Abortion, and Pregnancy

creature_81's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

amsswim's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is science fiction I would recommend to everyone. Great read. Makes you reflect on everything you have done in your life as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Car accident

blandrew's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I started reading this book before the show was announced, it was recommended by my friend's father who is a author, tho the beginning is kinda meh it really picks up in the third act.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

_david_'s review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

2.0

Oof to me, every part of this book missed its mark. In general I found everything in the book a bit over the top. 

First of all, Jason is supposed to be a genius. Yet it takes him ages to even think of the theory which can be figured out as a reader very quickly. If you've figured it out before Jason, there's not much joy in reading the story until he has figured it out too. You're just waiting and turning the pages until he does and you can finally continue. The way he acts is so hard to relate to. It's very hard to imagine the situations he encounters so it's hard to emphasize with his choices. However, at least after it all goes wrong once you'd think he change his behaviour right? 

Secondly, I'd like to discuss the science behind it. To me, it's very noticable that what we're reading has been written by an author who wanted to tell a story and then looked up the physic theories which would fit it best. The logic is not consistent and some of it almost works like magic. Yet the characters in the book use big words and existing theories to clarify the science behind it all. This is a very personal ick, I've barely ever encountered a piece of media that manages to do this well. The only ways I have seen this be pulled off, is to make up your own very clear very consitent rules or just pretend it's magic and do not explain it beyond what is necessary. 

My favourite part of the book beyond the very first chapter, in which Jason only talks about his family night and life choices, are the final few chapters. Yet I wish they pushed a little further. Let Jason be a little more selfish or a little more existential. I've read another review which points out a major flaw related to the inconsistent physics which did ruin these last chapters for me as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Police brutality, Car accident, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

meat_muffin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.75

The good:  I enjoyed the UberChat.  I felt that right when that was introduced a different ending could have spawned that turned into a lighthearted rom-com and I like to imagine that.

The bad:  I knew pretty early on that this was not going to be a favorite.  I don't read a lot of thrillers in general but I enjoy sci-fi so I figured I would give it a shot.  I couldn't stand the main character.  And thus, the book was doomed in my eyes.  The pacing was jumpy, and the plot was predictable (as in, I guessed what really happened in the first chapter and the main character didn't figure it out until the ~50% mark).  There was some promise for some thoughtful introspection but the approach was heavy-handed at best.  Some of the descriptions were vivid and others were flat out whacky.

I don't know if I will try another book by the author, but I don't think I was the intended audience for this work so who knows what the future holds.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic