Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick

32 reviews

brynpemery's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This started off SO WEIRD and I almost quit after a chapter or two. I ended up sticking with it and liked it more as the story picked up and we met some other characters. I will say that the beginning weirdness does have some context that helps explain things—elements that seem like fantasy or magical realism do have an explanation later on.

Realizing that the narrator is traumatized and extremely unreliable made me a lot more open to the way the story was told.

I will say that the Jungian analysis never got less weird. Glad it helped the narrator (and I believe the author) out but I could have done with a bit less. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

laheath's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.0

Emotional story of a town, one man in particular, trying to heal after a tragic event. Told through his letters to his Jungian analyst, the grief and devastation are palpable, but the story is ultimately hopeful in its telling of forgiveness and rebuilding.

Strong trigger warning for this book but worth it if you can get through the difficult material. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

chelle22's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Murder

tarabrynn's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I don’t think any book has made me feel, and cry as much as this book. I found it hard to connect with this book at first, but it became clear to me why that was. I give so much credit to Matthew Quick for being brave enough to approach the topic of mass shootings. They are something all Americans live with a conscious or unconscious fear of and yet there seems to be a shortage on meaningful conversation around them. I am so glad Matthew Quick took on this challenge and did it in such a beautiful and raw way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Suicide

danaleann23's review

dark emotional reflective tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Mass/school shootings

annieecusack's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was alright; I wish there had been more analysis of the narrator’s thoughts as opposed to descriptions of events throughout the book to better incorporate the ending into the rest of the story, and create a more psychological environment, which seemed to be a goal but was a bit poorly executed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

gondorgirl's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

emeryboyd's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

2.0

For a short audiobook it felt really slow to start. I didn’t get drawn in until chapter 14 (of 18). It had a good and emotional ending but was pretty easy to predict

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

brynstonehouse's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

As a therapist myself, this book was initially a struggle to read. Especially as it reminded me of some of my previous highly codependent clients. But the last 50ish pages really turn it around and redeemed that aspect of the book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

laura_berger's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis