Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

15 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

this was not at all what i was expecting. this is such an unique take on the romance genre. supernatural/mystical stuff in books isn’t usually my favorite, especially in romance, but this was still thoroughly enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Mental illness

peachani's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Cancer, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Racism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and War

ukponge's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Suicide, Mental illness, Death, and Miscarriage

teeslooseleaf's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Suicide

kdailyreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Alcohol, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Cursing, Drug abuse, Infertility, Police brutality, and War

amcintosh914's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Mental illness

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Self harm, Blood, Abandonment, Racism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, and Violence

borrowedbyaudrey's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Alcohol, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Drug use

simplymodest's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

What can I say about A Love Song for Ricki Wilde? The book was written so beautifully.  It takes you on a whimsical journey of two lovers destined to be together.  On the backdrop of Harlem over the span of 100 plus years you will fall in love with all these characters and not want to put this book down. I loved everything about this book. The plot, the characters, and it is set in February in a LEAP YEAR!!!!  I didn’t want to put it down and I will think about these characters for a long time. @tiawilliams did her thing with this book.  Definitely recommend this book!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Suicide, and Racism

Moderate: Infertility, Addiction, and Death of parent

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is my first by Tia Williams, and I look forward to going back now to read Seven Days In June. Williams set vivid scenes, both in present day Harlem and the Harlem of the 1920s, and her banter was funny and fast-paced. Tonally, this felt like reading a fairy tale, with the mysterious opening from a seemingly omniscient narrator, and the fluidly shifting perspectives through scenes. Even the premise felt like a gender-bent fairy tale with a dash of dark magic and curse-breaking. For those who enjoy magical realism, Williams captures the right balance between whimsical and unsettling, bridging eras in a way that thankfully never felt cheesy.

That said, I struggled a bit with the pacing in the first half, as well as the decision to include several scenes with Ricki's family. We assume her family will be a central conflict, given the opening scene, and they even reappear at the height of the third act, but ultimately I don't understand the purpose of their involvement, as these scenes don't really advance the plot in a meaningful way, and don't add much to Ricki's character development (not much that we hadn't already gathered from her own inner monologue). It felt distracting. And while I don't mind the romance beats feeling expected, I was disappointed that the reveals in the magical plot were fairly obvious. I was hoping for a twistier story, given the set-up. 

The epilogue though. The epilogue was absolutely perfect. It was tender and sweeping in a beautifully panoramic way, bringing the story to such a satisfying conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicide, Racism, Murder, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Violence, and Hate crime

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol

Sexual harassment appears in threats to a side character's storyline.