Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

La chica salvaje by Delia Owens

64 reviews

jessiesnoww's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Classism, Murder, Rape, Stalking, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, and Self harm

siniandi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Well written book, heartbreaking at times, hopeful at times; the ending is an interesting choice, probably divisive. Kya is a beautiful and complex character and, maybe most importantly, one of the most resilient female characters I have ever encountered in writing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness and Classism

joygarcialim's review against another edition

dark relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m confused by this book, in some good ways and in some not so good ways.

The settings used in the book are stunningly described and Delia Owens has a way of weaving words into art. However, this is overused throughout the book, although it gets less as the plot thickened. I do wish that there were points where things were more direct. While the places were so serene and heavily embossed with tales of nature, this is a thriller too and it almost loses the seat-gripping effect.

Kya starts out as a curious little thing and she just gets curiouser and curiouser. It was hard not to feel whilst her story unravelled. Whatever she has grown into, albeit debatable(though Tarzan was a thing so why not), made her an enchanting protagonist and it was undeniably hard not to root for her.

The romances are the parts of the story which I had the most problem with. Especially with Tate, because Chase was obviously a creep. Tate was kinda creepy too tbh.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Infertility and Suicidal thoughts

abijoyceshaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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

5.0

I loved this book! Despite her uncommon circumstances, I found Kya relatable and loved how she saw the world through the lens of nature which is used to create powerful metaphors. While her life is at times very dark and troubled, hope and beauty also felt just as central to her story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Check the trigger warnings before you read.

yruss972's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

Really beautiful book- have to give it 5 stars despite the gratuitous graphic sex depictions

Will trigger people for so many reasons - see content warnings

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Mental illness, Child abuse, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Rape, Murder, Infidelity, Death of parent, Classism, and Bullying

Minor: Self harm and Hate crime

creationwing's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

The story was fine, and the descriptions of nature were quiet good. I found it could be verbose at times, and, as others have pointed out, the dialogue was wasn't the strongest. While I liked the characters like Jumpin and such, the author builds tension only to accidentally deflate it too quickly and too soon. I have mixed feelings about this book. I got emotional at times, but it was lacking something that made the transition between the two (eventually coinciding) timelines choppy. The time jump in the last few chapters felt especially abrupt.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Cursing, Hate crime, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Animal death

Minor: Addiction, Medical content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infertility, Sexual harassment, and Self harm

Graphic depictions of domestic violence, including against children.

A (frankly unnecessary) scene involving racist hate crime and slurs.

First period Coercion of sex / dubious consent / wear her down Some injuries are described quite graphically, more than expected, at least Implied painful sexual experiences. Attempted sexual assault.

saskiahill's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Animal death, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Excrement

hfergy87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Rape

marieh_reads's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Racism, Mental illness, Bullying, and Abandonment

hannahjenaya's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

This was an okay book, there were a lot of things I liked, I enjoyed the descriptions of the marsh, the way science and ecology was included and the first part as well as the ending was great! I did however find the story dragging in the second part, especially the court scenes. I get why it was necessary but it didn’t need to be that long in my opinion and was a let down for the whole book. Overall an average book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, and Addiction

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Mental illness