Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker

18 reviews

oceanelle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Walker's writing is beautiful on a line level, and I'd like to read anything else she writes. With that said, I found the pacing leading up to

Aster's wedding

dragged, leaving the rest of

the sisters' deaths

feeling a bit rushed, aside from Rosalind. I also kept wondering what time period this was set in? Plus, I would've ultimately liked to have seen more of Lola on the page, and for the ending to feel more satisfying.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Suicide, Mental illness, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Death

darumachan's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

What stays with me most powerfully are the lovely prose and the rich atmosphere-- especially the unsettling sense of deep and sinister ties to the family and their wedding cake house. 

I was initially captivated by the mystery of the haunting at the core of the novel, but that was also where I was most frustrated. I don't mind an ambiguous ending that leaves you pondering, but I realize here that I do take issue with patterns or "clues" that are either abandoned or that are later contradicted for no reason, pointing the reader to a ridiculously broad conclusion that the problem is men and marriage in general, rather than following through on the more subtle relationships between heteronormative marriage and homophobia, misogyny, medical gaslighting, mental illness, gun violence, and family cultures founded on authoritarianism.

I also am dissatisfied with how the MC was developed. I'm fine with an unlikeable MC, but here she seemed to be a faded copy of her elder sisters rather than her own person, even though she was the one who survived to tell her story. She doesn't want to be compared to men, but she has no problem taking advantage of her romantic partner to do the emotional and intellectual labor expected of women married to "genius" male artists, for example. This is especially problematic given that this is a mixed-race partnership. The MC's sexuality was also handled rather clumsily and her attraction to women seemed tacked on to an otherwise asexual character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Self harm

Minor: Cultural appropriation, War, Lesbophobia, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

jillaay_h's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Self harm, Medical content, Death, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

kell_xavi's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Suicide, and Blood

Minor: Gun violence

town_scar's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Just an incredible piece of work. No notes. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Rape, Blood, Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Racism, Cursing, Cancer, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, and Death

rachaelwho's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

Bro... This was so. Boring. I thought I'd love it. I wanted to love it. It was so so so so so boring. So dry and so on the nose. Years and years and years long. Maybe I am just not Victorian enough for this.
Extremely skilled voice acting by the narrator.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Suicide

ktrain3900's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

One part The Virgin Suicides, another part We Have Always Lived in the Castle, with dashes of Sarah Winchester and Georgia O'Keeffe, yet a wholly original, meandering, quasi-gothic tale. Spooky-fun in places, cringe-tastic in others, always enough intrigue to keep me turning pages. Despite the often otherworldly atmosphere, the familial relationships feel largely genuine. Not sure I entirely "got it" or that there was an "it" to get (there seems to be a few ways to read the book) and not entirely won over by the ending, but overall I liked this very much. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide

sophmcgraw'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicide

atsundarsingh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I wanted so much to know what happened at every step of this novel. The fact that so much remains a mystery is both annoying and alluring. Still, the narrator has such a compelling voice, and I loved that the author's note gives further people to look for and read about, as well as partially explaining who Walker was influenced by in the creation of this work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Confinement

yellow_ylugbug's review

dark emotional mysterious 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: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Grief