Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman

29 reviews

jenny_d's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Gore, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Addiction, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Sexual content

moosaysmoo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Rape, Suicide, Addiction, Self harm, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Car accident and Child death

hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Incest, Cursing, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

enchantedtower's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Suicide

Not for the faint hearted

happylilfaerie's review

4.75

Neil Gaiman is a great writer and he's definitely gotten better over the years, as all good writers do. There were a couple of things that stood out as perhaps being a product of their time and it being one of his earlier work, nevertheless they deserve to be criticised. 

The way a female character is introduced, "Her nipples are hard and dark and shrunken on breasts like empty pouches". Yup that's the first thing we learn about her...there are much better ways to show a woman is old and sick than describing her boobs. 

The casual use of a slur for Romani people, it was really unnecessary and could definitely be edited out of future editions of the book without affecting the story at all. Maybe it is taken out of the newer editions, I'm not sure as the one I borrowed from the library is an older one. 

These flaws aside, the story and world have me captivated and I can't wait to read more about the characters and their adventures.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, and Rape

vigil's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

coming into this mostly blind, i think its a solid introduction into the world of the endless. but it’s a set up, and it definitely feels like one. 

i think it dragged needlessly in certain points, but i was very satisfied with how it ended. the issue when death was introduced was easily my favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Car accident, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Body horror, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

kaneli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism

izzyeb2310's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Self harm, Ableism, and Lesbophobia

areadingstan's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

In the first of Neil Gaiman's famous graphic novel series, we see The Sandman try to regain all of the power he has lost. This was a reread for me, and I had forgotten just how gritty, violent and downright disturbing it was. I would warn folks of that going in, but it is such a fascinating story and I love the way Gaiman does magical realism and plays with mythological themes. The artwork is also amazing! My gripes would be that some of the language is a little dated, the characters are not very diverse and there main characters seem to be men until the end...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Car accident, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Sexual assault, and Violence