Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

8 reviews

katelynndzindzio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Emma falls in love with Jesse the moment she looks at him. Sam fall in love with Emma the first time they talk to each other. 

After an unfortunate accident, Jesse is pronounced dead. Emma begins the grief journey and after years of this she writes to Jesse. 

"When you lose someone you love, it's hard to imagine that you'll ever feel better. That, one day, you'll manage to be in a good mood simply because the weather is nice or the barista at the coffee shop on the corner room and bridge your order." -Emma

However, after three years of being "dead" Jesse returns. Emma is faced the the impossible choice of being with Jesse (her husband) or Sam (her fiance). 

"I don't think you're trying to figure out if you love Sam more or Jesse more. I think you're trying to figure out if you want to be the person you are with Jesse or you want to be the person you are with Sam." -Marie

Emma realizes that she is no longer the same person she was when she fell in love with Jesse. Jesse is no longer the same guy Emma loved. They can both still love each other but they might not just be for each other now. 

"And what has confused me ever since I found out he was alive is now crystal clear: We are two people who are madly in love with our old selves. And that is not the same as being in love." - Emma

A truly impossible situation written beautifully. This one will definitely make you cry. What would you do? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

daniofthewood's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Confinement, Alcohol, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

xgabrielle_hx's review

emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

imaginingly's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

this is the book that has made me cry the most, i think, EVER in my life 
the beginning was very odd and the writing style was kind of ~meh~ but the actual story was very good. the book captured grief very well 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Mental illness

plueschi77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Gore

bbivnca's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

✦✦✦✦✦/✦✦✦✦✦
*One True Loves* is not a book that I would have picked up at the bookstore. It’s a book that my mom would have read, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. The main character is in her thirties, and this book is about finding her way back home and learning how to love again after her husband was gone. I thought the romance was great. I was able to side with both of the love interests, and that’s not really common for me when I read books that have love triangles.

Towards the end, I was starting to harbor negative feelings about Jesse. I thought he was being really selfish, and he was. He did, however, realized that nothing will ever go back to the way things were before be was gone. He had a hard time grasping that with or without him, everyone’s lives will go on. It’s amazing how Taylor Jenkins Reid was able to make dislike a character and like him at the same time. Sam is an absolute sweetheart. He is kind, patient, and understanding. He loved Emma for who she is and saw that she was greater than the sum of her parts. Jesse failed to recognize that she wasn’t the girl who eats Ben & Jerry’s and Diet Coca Cola when she was sad anymore. She went through hell and back when she lost him. Her innocence and self at 20 will never come back.

There were things that she did that did not sit right with me at times, but I think that’s what makes TJR’s writing so beautiful. She is able to make me empathize with flawed characters that I do not necessarily relate to. TJR is a mastermind at creating complex characters and she never fails to make me fall in love with each and every character that she creates. Overall, the ending worked out in my favor.

I was screaming when Sam proposed for a second time, and my mom looked at me like I was insane!

Love, love, love everything about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness

lasafica_reads's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

mallory10100's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

i loved this book, taylor jenkins reid remains my favourite author!! a great last read of the year :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Vomit

i HIGHLY recommend this book!!