Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Girls by Emma Cline

9 reviews

mickraine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Gore, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Murder, Violence, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Bullying, Alcoholism, Classism, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: War

jkull_10's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Self harm, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gore

knikchevich's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Child abuse, Blood, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-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

4.0

Like a more interesting version of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 4⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Rape, Addiction, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

thisbookrox's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Death, Drug abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

helenamichelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Addiction, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Classism, and Drug use

grboph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

This was the first book I finished in 2022, and it was a very good one!! I have been very fascinated with cults recently, and this was a good deviation from a lot of the nonfiction things I have been using to learn about them (the cult in this book is clearly based on the Manson Family). Emma Cline is a wonderful writer, and it is somewhat hard to believe that this was the first book she ever wrote. I found Evie to be a very interesting character, and I think she had a good arc. The thing I liked the most about this book was that Evie felt very relatable, which was nice for me since I hadn't really encountered many teenage-girl characters like that in adult novels before. Then that scared me a little because I realized that maybe I could have fallen into something like Evie did if I had found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time when I was that age. I don't know if this was something Cline did on purpose, but either way, it made the book all the more thought-provoking. Overall, The Girls was a unique and engaging book and I enjoyed every second I spent reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in cults or the 1960s as a time period, or anyone looking to read a unique story of any kind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Cursing, Excrement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, and Blood

This is a book about a violent, manipulative cult that culminates with a relatively graphic description of the murders of four people, one of whom is a young child. Also, the whole reason that the main character is drawn into the cult in the first place is because of someone she has an obsession with who is quite manipulative and cruel.

samflowerv6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

gritty and disturbing which is what the author was going for. accurate representation of attention seeking behaviors in young girls and how that can impact their relationships with men.

“That was part of being a girl--you were resigned to whatever feedback you'd get. If you got mad, you were crazy, and if you didn't react, you were a bitch. The only thing you could do was smile from the corner they'd backed you into. Implicate yourself in the joke even if the joke was always on you.” 

“That was our mistake, I think. One of many mistakes. To believe that boys were acting with a logic that we could someday understand. To believe that their actions had any meaning beyond thoughtless impulse. We were like conspiracy theorists, seeing portent and intention in every detail, wishing desperately that we mattered enough to be the object of planning and speculation. But they were just boys. Silly and young and straightforward; they weren't hiding anything.” 

“So much of desire, at that age, was a willful act. Trying so hard to slur the rough, disappointing edges of boys into the shape of someone we could love. We spoke of our desperate need for them with rote and familiar words, like we were reading lines from a play. Later I would see this: how impersonal and grasping our love was, pinging around the universe, hoping for a host to give form to our wishes.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Gore, Vomit, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Death, Torture, Murder, Hate crime, Drug use, and Violence

Children in bad living conditions was so bad

lavieenrose's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Ableism, and Body shaming

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Sexual content