Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

160 reviews

bikes_and_books's review against another edition

4.0

informative fast-paced

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Fascinating family biography woven with contemporary views of and treatments for schizophrenia. I learned a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use

dreamybee's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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Fascinating, heartbreaking, harrowing look at what mental illness, especially when stigmatized and misunderstood, can do to a family. I kept finding myself physically tensed up as I was reading. I wouldn’t notice it until I stopped reading, and then I’d realize that I needed to take a couple slow, deep breaths to decompress. 

There is scientific progress being made toward understanding schizophrenia; and, although it is slow, it does appear hopeful that treatments will continue to improve; but it has been a long, rocky road to get this far, and there is still a long way to go. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder

megancj's review against another edition

4.0

dark informative sad tense slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide

hillarycopsey's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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The science and family history Kolker is writing about is fascinating and mostly well told. (He gets a little meandering, though by the end, I understood the purpose in most of the tangents.) Everyone who recommended this book -- and there were MANY -- raved about how this is nonfiction that reads like fiction! Yes, that's true. 

But I wish I had known going in how much of the story was about the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of the kids, particularly the two daughters. This was a lot to spend time with, especially given that by the end of the book, there's not a lot of resolution. This isn't the fault of the author. Science takes a long time, families are complicated, etc. But knowing about the abuse, I wouldn't have picked this up. I could have gotten the gist of the science from book reviews and magazine articles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder

amelew's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative tense slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder

caseystowers's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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This was a really interesting book. I loved that it blended science in with the Galvin's story so you could understand how the field of schizophrenia research developed as through the Galvin's experiences. It is a bit slow and takes a while to get through, but I really recommend it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Murder

usedtotheweather's review against another edition

3.0

dark informative medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma

kendallreadsbooks's review against another edition

3.5

dark informative reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt

alaina's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder

katymaryreads's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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 Fascinating insight, both into the life of a family with six children with schizophrenia and into some of the science behind potential treatments. Lots on the nature vs, nurture debate, without really reaching a conclusion. Not a happy read, especially as the "unaffected" members of the family were as traumatised as the sick ones, but interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma