Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

19 reviews

nichu's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Self harm and Mental illness

carebearnecessities's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.25

Don’t let the 65% fool you, I really did enjoy this book and what it represented—the story the author wanted to tell. However, I just think with all the topics covered throughout the book (facets of Asian American identity, connecting to culture, mental health and general YA/coming of age), sometimes the more serious conversations feel a bit condensed.

At one point towards the middle of the book, Ever is like- I feel like I’m learning so much about my heritage! And I’m like, ??? By this time you’ve skipped like all your classes after week 1– and we didn’t even get a lot of scenes with the Mandarin and calligraphy and Chinese medicine classes because more time was spent detailing the nights out and love triangle!

In the first third of the book I liked the way it was setting up Ever to exposure and immersion in Chinese/Taiwanese culture and bond with other Asian Americans, but then most of the second and final thirds of the book seemed to focus more on dance, teenage shenanigans, and the love triangle. And then maybe in the final 100 pages we got back into the discussions of “heritage” and Asian (American) identity again. 

Also, I feel like with the serious topics such as n*de leaking and severe depression, there should of been a little more care in its depiction? By this, I mean that for me—and maybe it’s subjective—but we forgave Sophie too soon. At one point Ever was saying, “we both hurt each other.” But I feel like kissing a guy that your friend likes and distributing p*rnography are two completely different levels of betrayal??? Plus, that “moment” with Xavier returning the last picture… was him admitting it to it supposed to be this sad, forlorn thing? Like him keeping the picture is not “romantic” or simp-y or teenage, love triangle angsty in any appropriate way, regardless of her already having slept with him. Lastly, with the portrayal of Jenna, maybe it’s just me but I really had this negative itch towards her continually being described as “frail” after her situation (with Rick) is finally revealed. And maybe there’s not much that could’ve been done since she wasn’t part of the camp, but her story seemed to be used to elevate Rick’s character development and tie that to the pressures in his life. Again, since she wasn’t a central character, maybe this could’ve been harder to incorporate through her lens, but still…. Anyways, I do appreciate that the book tried to cover these sensitive topics that should be discussed through literature. I think it’s just the fact of “”adult”” topics (granted, struggles with mental health, p*rnography, domestic abuse, and identity issues are things ’much younger people deal with also but I mean) told through a more “YA” lens.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Physical abuse

princessm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Classism

elaineyh1216's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide attempt

heatherjchin's review against another edition

DNF at 60% — 50% then 10% at the end. 

I got through half this novel before reading some reviews and spoilers because I had to see if all the guesses I had for the story trajectory and character development would come true and yup, they would. And actually ended up worse than I’d imagined. So I jumped to the end and decided to count this as a full Read here to give myself credit for reading through what turned out to be a trope-filled, caricature-heavy, shallow, problematic relationships on all levels, and unrootable-for protagonist novel. 
The author does a good job with capturing the headiness and messiness of adolescence and young adulthood, and the emotional struggle between personal and parental dreams, but I couldn’t get past the framing of a lot of toxic relationship dynamics and decisions as just mistakes, excusable, not needing accountability or even to be taken seriously.

I also feel like readers who are not from the Chinese American and Asian American communities would find this more entertaining than many of us who live with the weight of these stereotypes daily.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Classism, Mental illness, and Sexual content

revengesrose's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, and Self harm

fremzz's review against another edition

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Car accident, Mental illness, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse

mandkips's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racial slurs

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

maple_dove's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed the romance, plot twists/unexpected events, discussion of racism, and things a lot of Asian-Americans (youth) experience.  I could NOT stop making up an AU of Ever being an anti-hero/villain. 😈

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racial slurs

Profanity