Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

5 reviews

heather_freshparchment's review

adventurous 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Mental illness, Incest, Dementia, Terminal illness, Murder, Confinement, Suicide, and Stalking

gidgetdraws's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Holy grail of plot twists and a wonderful marriage between the genres historical fiction and mystery suspense. 

Fortune telling, family secrets, unreliable narrators, romance, danger, and expertly plotted prose, I loved everything about this novel. I typically pride myself on being fairly good at discerning where a plot is leading and how a book is going to end but I was wonderfully surprised all the way to the finish!

Red, our main character, is reminiscent of an Enola Holmes archetype with her quick wit and schemes that land her in more than one precarious situation. Even in her moments of lapsed judgment, you can’t help but root for her.

This is definitely going on the shelf as “books I could read for the first time again.” And I’ll definitely be reading again to catch any details and hints I may have missed the first time around!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Death, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Incest and Adult/minor relationship

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Incest, Death of parent, Alcohol, Rape, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

hoppma's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

 I won this in a giveaway and I'm so glad because it was a fun read. This is a multi-layered mystery with many twists and turns. And despite the length of the book nothing is wasted. Every piece and thread will come back and be important at the conclusion, but it didn't feel overwhelming. I have read a lot of mysteries - and a lot of historical fiction - but this felt unique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Incest

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Mental illness

Minor: Rape

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The DRAMA this family has, I don’t know what’s worse; the deceit or the greed. It was hard to tear myself away with each chapter revealing something new and leading you to a new conclusion about everyone’s messed up relationships. What a journey!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape and Incest