Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Places I've Cried in Public

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne

12 reviews

vjlp22_reader's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

Content Warnings

dinipandareads's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

3.75

TL;DR: This was such a painful read to get through. It leaves you feeling a bit helpless as you get a front-row seat to Amelie losing herself to something toxic and retracing her steps to find herself again. This is such an important story and I'm so glad that it exists, especially for young readers, as Bourne does a great job exploring what it means to be in healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to care for yourself in the aftermath. This tackles dark and heavy events that can be triggering so please do check content warnings before reading.

I've had this book on my TBR for a very long time because I always knew that I would need to gear myself up emotionally to read it. From the title alone you know you're being set up for a sad-time read but I don't think I expected just how full of anguish it would be. Bourne captures the essence of teenhood perfectly through Amelie. Her turbulent emotions were so distinct and it was easy to get swept up in the extremes of all her feelings. As someone who moved many times during my schooling years, I know how hard it is to say goodbye to friends and to be the "new kid" (yet again). As a reader, you're excited for Amelie as she gets excited about making new friends and then, there he is, and once Reese enters the picture nothing will ever be the same as it was.

I don't think I have the words to describe how painfully uncomfortable and angering it was to read this book. It was so difficult to see Amelie constantly ignore red flags because of how amazing it feels to be cherished and "loved" by someone like Reese. Despite not being the targeted audience of this book, it's no less impactful or important because sadly, this is probably something a lot of people—both men, women, young, and old—may experience, have experienced or know someone who has been through it. In ways, it's terrifyingly relatable and I think that's what also makes this story more devastating. Bourne handles sensitive topics very well and writes in a way that's easy for readers of any age to grasp.

That being said, perhaps it was also this simplicity of the writing that made it difficult for me to fully connect to the story. I expected to be overwhelmed by emotions reading this and although I was moved by it and hurt for Amelie, it didn't quite connect with me in the way I thought it would. Whether my brain numbed itself the more I read or I'd built my expectations up too high over the years, I think this is more of a "me thing" and not the fault of the book. Towards the end, I found the endless crying and constant breaking down into tears to be very emotionally taxing.

Overall, I'm glad to have finally read this. I see why everyone talked about it when it came out and I appreciate how well Bourne wrote this story. I know if my younger self read this, it would've turned me into a total emotional wreck! As difficult as these topics and events are, I do think it's an important read for young readers because it's so easy to get overwhelmed and caught up in the butterflies, attention and the highs of what you think love is, only for it to blind you from someone's ugly.

Content Warnings

annabelreadsandwrites's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

leonormsousa's review

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dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.5

TRIGGER WARNINGS

emotional abuse, gaslighting, sexism, sexual assault, rape, toxic relationship, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, body shaming, infidelity

REPRESENTATION

none

REVIEW

Have you ever heard about stories of domestic violence or violence in relationships and thought “how did it get to this point? how did the victim not put a stop to the abuse?”? If you did, then I would definitely recommend The Places I’ve Cried in Public. It can give you the answer you’re looking for, as it is not a cute YA romance as it may seem, but a strong and hard story of abuse.

Honestly, this book has everything you might want in a (YA) book. The characters are very well built and feel real. The plot keeps you engaged and draws you in so well, that it feels like you’re inside Amelie’s skin so much that you almost fall a bit in love with Reese. And sometimes you’re yelling “please don’t do that” but at the same time you can understand everything she does. The book is also very well written, with the intercalation of present Amelie and past Amelie being *chef’s kiss * .

But maybe what I like the most about this book is that it’s not just a good book. It’s a book that has an important message and that’s targeted at an audience that NEEDS to read this message. It’s a book that matters! And books that matter always grab my little heart.

There’s not much more to say, except “go read this book”! Even if you don’t like YA, I think you might enjoy this as it is so far from your typical YA book. I myself was already expecting to be disappointed since my expectations for this were quite high but I was pleasantly surprised: I was not expecting such a strong book.

Lastly, I would like to offer another recommendation to the ones of you who want to read further on this topic. I’ve read “Into the Darkest Corner” by Elizabeth Haynes a few years ago and it’s still to this day, one of the books that I think about from time to time. It’s an adult book even heavier that “The Places I’ve Cried in Public”, as it tells with more detail not only emotional abuse but especially physical abuse, and also the consequences that being in an abusive relationship can have on years to come.

Content Warnings