Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

39 reviews

janienejulia's review

emotional funny sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Vomit

sarahreadsromance's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is heartbreaking… and also beautiful and also messy and also so very real.  It makes me sad, it makes me angry, but it also makes me hopeful and nostalgic, the original Greek.

I don’t know who said this book was funny.  I would not describe it as that.  It has humorous moments for sure, but on the whole this is not an “extremely funny” book. 

I loved it and I think you should read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Grief, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

hannahbailey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

<b>TW: mental illness, toxic relationships, domestic abuse, suicidal thoughts, miscarriage, alcoholism, emotional abuse, grief </b>

Absolutely sped through this. Had I owned a copy on kindle, I would be sharing probably hundreds of highlights right now. 

Written so effortlessly, with a style of prose that is just a pleasure to read despite the heavy themes. Actually, it's probably this writing style that makes the themes so digestible. Really enjoyed the lack of 'perfect' characters and the unreliable narration. Found the narrative we tell ourselves about how we're perceived by others when suffering with mental illness to be very relatable. This portrayal of mental illness, teen-to-adulthood and managing relationships is not only relatable but quite soothing to see published into the mainstream. The narrative voice was very compelling as was the jumping to different parts of the timeline. 

Took me 3 days to finish which is a record this year as everything else I pick up in 2024 has taken me much longer to get through!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Miscarriage

ashleyjean6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

This is a difficult read that is also potentially extremely triggering. It is about a fictitious mental illness, but it's effects are very real and raw. If that sounds like it would not make for 5 star fiction, it does. Although bleak it is not without hope and it is absolutely gorgeously written! The audiobook is also beautifully narrated. Highly recommend! Definitely a top book this year, maybe period. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Classism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Alcohol, Racism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

racheljiyoungshin's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Mental illness, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

crazytourists_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I can't believe I ended up liking this book. 
I did struggle at first, with the narration style, I found it kind of juvenile and obnoxious, and that feeling lasted for quite a while; for about one-third of the book. Every few pages I was contemplating about stopping reading. And then it kind of fell into place and the narration made sense, and I started to be submerged in the story. Up until the diagnosis paragraph where the actual diagnosis is withheld and dashes are put in ita name. I don't get it. It's the kind of thing that perpetuates the shame and stigma, not naming what we fear. The specifics weren't needed; if the structure of the story was a bit different, I think the author could get away with all this mess. And then comes the end, which I quite liked, and the characters are still in pain but have grown, and it's not overly happy, which is a good thing. It is rather real. 
So, an experience with its ups and downs, but on the positive side in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Addiction, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

rakkaussipsi's review against another edition

emotional sad

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

bail33's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Would rate this more than five. No book has ever made me feel this way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism

mikayladlewis's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

This book was beautiful, spellbounding and honest. Honest in a way that cracked me open. It did take me about a third of the book to get into the writing style and the character, since there is a lot of jumping around. However, I think the author did an outstanding job portraying mental illness from a first person perspective. There were some moments that I felt the echoes of Bell Jar, just in the writing style and how raw the emotions come across. I would like to give a warning where if your headspace isn't great then maybe put off reading? Nonetheless it was an amazing novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Emotional abuse

lolasherwin's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse