Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn

9 reviews

moondragon8's review against another edition

funny tense fast-paced

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

3.75

i liked it! i will say you can kind of tell this is a novel written because someone thought "wow, wouldn't it be cool if..." and then just kind of went from there without giving too much thought to the meat of the story. (the thing that really kept nagging at me was that supposedly the island had declared itself an independent nation from the us, but like...come on. anyone can declare that, it doesn't mean the us will actually agree. and how much technology did they have, anyway? and how big was this island???) 
the story was also darker than i expected, in a sort of weird way where you...didn't really feel the emotional resonance of those moments, but were just like "damn, that's fucked up. we're just moving on from that? okay". i guess some of this could be attributed to the epistolary format, but...i dunno.
still, a fun kind of experiment, and a truly unique form of the dystopian novel. i'm glad i picked it up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Grief, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

picnicatthehangingtree's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

A clever and funny, if overly simplistic and expository, story of totalitarianism and freedom of speech. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Violence

cheye13's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation and Suicide attempt

Minor: Police brutality, Ableism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

The R slur is used in casual passing on pg 131 (hardback edition). Most other tags relate to the enforcement and punishments with regard to the illegal letters. Being epistolary, there is a casualness and distance from the actual events described.

tessarudnick's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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? No

4.5

So charming!! A book in love with words. A simple and excellent allegory for censorship, this book revels in playing with language and how we can process it. An incredibly sad and dark story that manages to feel light and fun the whole way through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, and Alcohol

untoworthy's review against another edition

dark sad tense

• 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide

evnfig's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was great. Fairly easy in concept and scope but oddly challenging in other ways, this book was a quick and entertaining weekend read. As letters of the alphabet are outlawed, it makes communication harder for the characters, but more entertaining for the reader. It's a book about freedom of expression and the power of language. It makes a point about totalitarianism and it's a love letter to the written word. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Religious bigotry

misse3's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gun violence, Death, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Police brutality, Murder, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

nila's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

It's been a while since I felt so invested in a story. I struggled through the first letters, feeling like I was reading a text for which the author had overused a Thesaurus, but it got easier as the story went on. Even though the whole plot is relayed through various letters, I found myself really attached to certain characters, particularly Ella and Tassie, and I felt the tension as the stakes got higher. 

I found Ella Minnow Pea to be a unique read, I have never read a book like it, and though it's short, it really packs a punch, and is high memorable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicide attempt

rbacon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

This book is so clever, honestly I'm just in awe of how unique a concept this is. The letter writing style only added to the world building. I would have loved to have read more about what happened after, and got to know some of the characters that were introduced later in the book a bit better, but also I am perfectly satisfied with the ending I got.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Gun violence, and Alcoholism