Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Sorrow and Bliss

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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

323 reviews

cgrayson87's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective sad 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

5.0

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emmamalcs's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

2.5

It took me a really long time to read this book, I found it quite difficult to get into and I struggled with finding it boring. I really liked the writing style and reflect manor and some parts were quite funny, but overall I found the story lacked.

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laura7l's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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savvylit's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

The best aspect of Sorrow and Bliss is the way that Mason portrays the personal significance of receiving an accurate mental health diagnosis. Martha, the main character, spends the majority of this novel struggling with her mental illness. She has deep depressive episodes. She tries multiple medications. The relief at finally knowing her (unnamed to readers) diagnosis was both palpable and powerful.

A difficult thing about this novel is that Martha uses her mental health struggles as an excuse to be genuinely rude and cruel to her loved ones. Especially her husband. Though eventually she realizes she's actually an asshole outside of her diagnosis, it was excruciating to experience Martha being needlessly mean-spirited.

Overall, I liked Sorrow and Bliss and following Martha's journey. The whole novel felt really realistic, even (and especially) in its most unlikeable moments.

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crazytourists_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.0

I can't believe I ended up liking this book.
I did struggle at first, with the narration style, I found it kind of juvenile and obnoxious, and that feeling lasted for quite a while; for about one-third of the book. Every few pages I was contemplating about stopping reading. And then it kind of fell into place and the narration made sense, and I started to be submerged in the story. Up until the diagnosis paragraph where the actual diagnosis is withheld and dashes are put in ita name. I don't get it. It's the kind of thing that perpetuates the shame and stigma, not naming what we fear. The specifics weren't needed; if the structure of the story was a bit different, I think the author could get away with all this mess. And then comes the end, which I quite liked, and the characters are still in pain but have grown, and it's not overly happy, which is a good thing. It is rather real.
So, an experience with its ups and downs, but on the positive side in the end.

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