Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Either/Or by Elif Batuman

9 reviews

maddalenacesco's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.0

girl loses her sense of self, mental stability, backpack... and much more, if you know what I mean
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anagramatica's review

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dark funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I found the college setting and philosophical dialog a little irritating at first. I was listening to the audiobook and the author was reading. I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue listening, but I stuck with it. There were some pure funny moments, some cringe funny moments, and a lot of existential young-person-seeking moments. The later part of the story was easier for me to warm up to.
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tatjanasbooks's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

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lghrndn's review

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dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

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maceydowns's review

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funny reflective medium-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

4.75

Selin is the most relatable main character I stg—the timing of reading this book with my current state of being lined up unbelievably perfectly
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ra2chael's review against another edition

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

4.25

Wheeww. I loved seeing Selin step into herself more and more throughout this sequel. Her inner world is so, so rich, and unlike The Idiot, where I felt the novel fell flat when she left Harvard, in Either/Or the story soared in the second half of this book. The story gets a little repetitive at points, and I didn’t feel like the Ivan situation was very resolved, nor did I love reading Selin’s extremely passive barely-consent with a string of awful men. But, like in The Idiot, these flaws feel like an intentional personality flaw and were wonderfully frustrating. Really such an enthralling  and clever story.
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ekg's review

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

4.0

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lindseyhall44's review

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

5.0

“I used to wonder this last year: how could you be so graceful in writing and so clumsy and life?”
Either Or takes place right after the events of its predecessor, The Idiot, as Selin returns to Harvard for her sophomore year of college. While discovering what it means to live an aesthetic versus an ethical life, Selin must deconstruct the issues which occurred  last year as well as maneuver through the turbulence known as Academia, all before returning to her parents native country of Turkey for a summer abroad.
The narrative perspective of Selin toes the line between humor and sadness particularly well, as her witty remarks made me laugh out loud, yet were often at the expense of her naïveté. Never in all my reading experience have I ever related to a character as much as Selin, not so much in life stories, but more of how she sees the world. My heart clenched at this feeling of representation, found in a woman who is also trying to navigate the world around her. Similarly, Selin also finds comfort  in representation, as the literary cannon serves as a guide to understand life in a more processable way.
While this book is not for everyone, the characters, writing, and  nostalgia of a younger time places Either Or on a pedestal for literary fiction which will be hard to outmatch.
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lbhreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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