Reviews with content warning for Schizophrenia/Psychosis - Utopia Avenue

Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

20 reviews

b_austridge's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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maya0805's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective slow-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

4.0

i really liked this book but it took me so long to read it, it was just so damn slow. But i really loved the way the characters were build i loved the concept of the chapters and all that but for some reason the book didn’t have me hooked. The last few chapters tho i read in one sitting, the last jasper and elf chapters made me sob and the ending had me also shedding a couple (many) tears
I love the growth the characters had especially dean towards the very end
What kinda annoyed me was the huge amount of namedropping and sometimes, especially in the beginning, i got so confused because there were so many characters
But in conclusion it is a great book about a sensational band which felt so real

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kingaisnotcool's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

i usually love magical realism but the magical realism in this was completely unnecessary and ruined what i hoped would be good representation of mental illness (specifically schizophrenia).

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benbarnacle's review

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adventurous funny informative mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

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apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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atamano's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

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joyjoyjoy's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a completely self-indulgent 5 star. No, I have no clue what was happening half the time. Yes, the phonetic accents were slightly distracting. Yes, a few too many celebrities were name-dropped. And yes, I cried buckets.

This is just totally my kind of book. Queer characters get to exist unapologetically, and the premise of the book is so exactly my thing that it's ridiculous. I still haven't found a way to process the ending, or what the hell was going on with Jasper, but I will.

Anyway, Elf is my new hero and I want to play psychedelic folk-jazz-rock now.

I would also like to note that this book takes place in the 60s, and as such the language used and viewpoints shown are definitely outdated sometimes. Take heed of the trigger warnings. Specific instances include a couple of mentions of the words "poof"/"queer"/"f*g" etc, some cultural appropriation of Native American imagery, and the use of the historically misogynistic and racist epithet directed against Indigenous women that I don't want to write out (it starts with 's'). The overall tone of the book is quite accepting and positive, but these things do come up. As for the representation of mental illness, I can't give a verdict on that.

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