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The writing improved as the story moved forward, which was an interesting choice but kind of made sense in context after a while. The ending dragged a bit too long though; it got kind of soapbox-y, beating readers over the head with points already made just in case you didn't get it. (You will.)
Seriously though. I could be marking triggers for this book for hours. Just open the book with care.
Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking
Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Blood
Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment
Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Rape
It starts off following Emilie, checking herself into the hospital psych ward, but it becomes clear very quickly that things are not quite right, not what they seem. After being placed into the high-security ward due to a lack of beds, she fights to keep her sanity amidst the chaos caused by other patients. The main way she does this is by writing in her journal, keeping track of what she’s been experiencing and how she got to this point. Then, she begins to receive letters tucked inside her journal that turn out to be journal entries from Emily (with a y), who stayed in the asylum centuries earlier.
Emily’s entries document her life, telling us about the journey that led to her being locked up, and continuing on through her time in the asylum. They start off a little dark, and scattered between Emilie’s entries, as you get deeper into the book, they become more frequent, soon taking over almost entirely, and the things happening become darker and more horrifying.
For the most part, there’s no way of realising how much time has passed, but suddenly there were a few mentions of the amount of time she’s been in there, and it’s a hell of a lot longer than you would think just from having read the book up to that point.
I really loved the poetic phrasing, giving the book an eerie feeling and adding to the darkness of the themes. There were overlapping features and symbols that appeared in both timelines, which I thought were quite clever. It draws extra emotion and depth, and makes for some beautiful writing in the midst of a slow crawl towards insanity.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide attempt
I'll try to add the stuff I remember but from what I heard there's even more stuff...
This thing should come with giant TW all over...
Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping