Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

464 reviews

aseppa's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

Even the acknowledgements made me cry 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

booksqworm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. My favorite thing for books to do is make me think of the human experience in a new way. The first half of the book had some beautifully written moments that did just that. I was sure I was going to want to reread the book so I could experience those moments again. I love stories of found families and love stories about friendship, and I love stories that include politics, because politics are personal. But then the book got depressing and dark. It felt both rushed and super slow at the same time. I did not enjoy the second half of the book at all and it honestly kind of ruined the first half for me. I felt there was so much more for the author to say about friendship, about disability, about sexism, about love and loss, but it fell short. I am someone who typically reads Sci-if and fantasy so I do look for more escapism in my books. I feel like being a book about video games it could have had a more special ending white still being true to the literary fiction genre. So many people love this book and I do understand why, the writing is lush and includes many references to all sorts of interesting material, the author does an amazing job writing from multiple perspectives and jumps around time flawlessly. It just isn’t what I look for in a book. Like video games I play, I want a satisfying ending that makes me want to play the game again to find all the secrets. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

lolra's review against another edition

• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

lordcafeine'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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Terminal illness

dmchesher's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

aubreyrae_m's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

This book was unlike any other love story/realistic fiction book I’ve ever read. I would highly recommend this book to people who enjoy books that have characters that feel like real people, with flaws, mistakes, and feelings.

I would not recommend this book to anyone who longs for a happy ending at the end of the story. There is some resolution, but the problem is not resolved completely.

Books like these are frustrating because you want the characters to make different choices, but they’re also exciting because they allow you to connect to the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

squidface's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

I raced through this book, which is a testament to Kevin's ability to pace well, write readable characters, and overall keep me that engaged. I nearly gave this a 5/5 but the book has a few flaws that downgraded it for me.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored this book, flaws and all (which is definitely one of the themes of the book - loving someone wholly despite their flaws and your flaws). I loved the literary references, the use of Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson, and thought it was interesting that those things fell away as the characters got older - but yet it was sort of a turning plot point in the later third of the book to bring Macbeth back in so the characters could emotionally connect again (sorry if this doesn't make much sense, I'm trying to keep the review as spoiler free as possible).
I felt, as others have pointed out, that Zevin was using some kind of word of the day thing and tried to shoehorn in as many random words as possible. Tuberose was overused as an adjective. She misused the word tautology (who proofed this?). 
I disagree with whoever said she clearly doesn't understand music - those observations about Miles Davis et al in the book are made from a character point of view and definitely aren't the views of the author.
Although I did at times find the characters to be thinly veiled versions of parts of Zevin, for the most part they're adorkable.
Despite the flaws, I think Zevin is an amazing and accomplished writer. And this book is definitely worth a read. 
For me it actually could have gone into more elaboration about the games world itself and the business side of it, but I suppose in the end the book focused on relationships between people, and that's what mattered more, because it played to it's strengths.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

amariew125'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, and Pregnancy

spicyviolets's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

A beautifully written book with characters that feel entirely fleshed out and grounded. It manages to be a love letter to the art of video games, and the healing powers of play, while not shying away from the systemic flaws in both the gaming industry and the community. 
Sam and Sadie are incredibly well-written. Both their own stories, and their relationship to each other are told woven and layered together in an incredibly unique way that was so entertaining to read. They’re deeply flawed, complex, often unlikeable (but I was always able to empathize with them both) and beautifully human characters. Gabrielle Zevin nailed this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mental illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Car accident

oppesaddle3's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Grief, and Car accident