Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

30 reviews

anastasiamakes's review against another edition

challenging informative 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? No

4.0

A beautiful, haunting tale, unfortunately based on true events (loosely). A really character-driven study of the plight of women in 19th century France, centred around the (real) Saltpêtrière asylum.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug abuse

niamhyjay's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Self harm

tarotcarrot's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Self harm

lauramparis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual violence

imkaytie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Drug abuse, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

ellasecretarchive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Torture

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

3.0

I'm really not sure how to rate this. I honestly think my favorite part was looking up the history of the real Salpêtrière and Professor Charcot. I actually lived just a few minutes walk from the Salpêtrière for several years without realizing it. The history is what fascinates me, but the book itself leaves a bit to be desired.

This story is told in a very matter-of-fact way. There's nothing that's hidden or mysterious about the characters or the setting. Everything is laid out for the reader, and I think it causes the book to lose some heart.

This is a slow, character driven story that is quite light on actual plot. It takes place over the span of two and a half weeks, but it feels so much longer than that due to the pacing. Unfortunately, this story suffers from extremely convenient scenarios to push the plot forward, which makes everything very predictable. 

As the title is The Mad Women's Ball, I expected a lot more of the story to take place during the ball, or to have it be way more relevant than it actually was. In the end it just felt like another plot device with no life to it. 

This book is depressing; there's no way around that. I mainly felt stressed while reading this. I'm not happy with the conclusion, and it left me feeling a little lost ? There is an epilogue, but I honestly could have used one more chapter of the main story to prevent it from feeling so abrupt. This is not a long book, so the ending does feel rushed compared to how the rest of the story unfolded. 

Basically I have quite mixed feelings about this book. On one hand it introduced me to a history of Paris I did not previously know, but on the other I think the book itself could have been fleshed out so much more. In the end I think that leaves me with an average book where the history behind it is more intriguing than the fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Self harm

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

daisymayl's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

The first chapter didn't grab me, but the second chapter definitely did and I really really enjoyed this up until the final chapter. If the ending had been better then this would have been a 4 but the ending just felt rushed and fell flat for me. The ball was barely a chapter in the book as well, despite the book being named after it. I think I wanted this to be a bit longer so that it could be more properly fleshed out towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Confinement, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse

lau_leo's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wowowow. I feel like this book was made for me. This was a pretty quick read for me but it has resonated with me so much. As an agnostic nurse, I could sympathize with the main character immensely. I have often questioned and re-evaluated my beliefs and purpose in life so seeing one of the main characters go through similar things such as detachment, depersonalization, burnout, and survivors guilt had me connecting to this novel on a level I wasn’t expecting. I loved how the main characters question their own sanity and beliefs and stay true to themselves. I will probably recommend this book to anyone who will listen. And I am intrigued to see how I perceive this book when I reread it one day and if I will love it as much as I currently do. 

Before reading this book, I want to point out that looking up content warnings might be advised. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Trafficking

books4em's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

This is a short book and I was somewhat disappointed.  The ending is rushed and I wish more detail/thought had been taken to expand on the ending. The author could've explored the two main characters after the climax of the book (which happens within the last few pages), but didn't. Some of the events in the novel aren't explicitly stated as they are and I think it looses some of the emotional effect they probably have in the book's native language (French). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt