Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

43 reviews

lillyrose97's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

meecespieces's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Child death

Moderate: Death of parent

cursed_sapphire's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

This book is very easy to pick up and read, with short chapters and lots of cliffhangers and twists. The characters were likable but nothing too special, but all have potential for further growth in a sequel. I saw another review mention that there were too many twists, and I agree, as near the end there was a section where it felt like the suspect changed every 20 pages. The killer's monolog explaining their motivation also went on for multiple chapters which was far too long and complicated (although to be fair, most chapters in this book are between 2-5 pages, so it's more like the killer's monolog lasted for one medium-sized chapter, but the complaint still stands). I wish there was more time spent establishing characters other than the protagonist, but I did like the female lead. The biggest pros were the tension and the fact that it's dripping with atmosphere. This book is fun for a fun, popcorn read, but nothing too deep. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape

dorsetreader'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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Violence, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

addyisnothere's review against another edition

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Stalking

Moderate: Rape and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

gracedunne's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness and Abortion

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

bethnash'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

gracekirby51's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

elyssajoh's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Sexism, Murder, Abortion, Violence, Torture, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

starrysteph's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This was a huge miss - especially considering the concept. I was prepared for atmospheric horror in isolation, and I got a boring, lengthy read. 

The setting is a Sanatorium with a dark history (now converted into a modern hotel), hidden deep in the snowy mountains with shoddy cell service and avalanches barring escape. Sounds terrifying, right? Not here.

The pacing was maddeningly slow, the character development was nonexistent, and the men were walking red flags. The reason this is two stars instead of one is because I did appreciate some of the descriptive writing & as mentioned above, thought the concept was excellent.

Our main character, a detective dealing with lifelong panic attacks (starting with the death of her little brother as a child and amplified after a botched case), is shockingly inept. She does ... well .. just about everything wrong during her "investigation". And she is on the verge of tears throughout most of it, doubting herself and whining about her situation. I did not believe Elin was ever a detective (more like a casual true crime podcast listener).

Onto the mystery itself, which was painfully drawn out and filled with common tropes.

No spoilers, but the killer reveal and motivation was baffling. Totally far fetched - and the "clues" were ridiculous. Then, there's a tacked-on epilogue with a cliffhanger clearly intended to leave readers craving more Elin (it didn't work). 

This should have been a super high stakes read, and the setting should have been actually utilized (why wasn't the Sanatorium given any characterization?). It's too bad.

CW: murder, death, medical trauma, child death, rape, panic attacks, abortion, kidnapping, confinement, force institutionalization, psychosis, mental illness, torture

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Car accident