Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

18 reviews

cleot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Body horror, Medical trauma, Stalking, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Torture, Animal death, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Suicide

human experimentation and parasitism are central themes

errie's review

dark

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Mass/school shootings

zombiezami's review against another edition

5.0

This was mesmerizing. The characters and the narrative were so amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Stalking, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Torture, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Intersexism

artmuseam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

to start, i have never read anything like this book before. a combination of cult survival, body metamorphosis, and exploring sexuality that somehow weaves together so well to construct a unique take on horror. this book reminded me somewhat of the works of octavia butler; stress was a big factor in what kept me going through the book. i was terrified for the main character, vern, but also terrified of her at certain points. i found elements of myself in her through her tentative exploration of her sexual orientation while also learned about what love is. this was such an exciting and different approach to horror and i thoroughly enjoyed this book! 5/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Stalking, Sexual violence, Death, and Gore

cookiecat73's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

This was a very raw, very honest book that absolutley did not shy away from tough topics. I loved the characters. The first 3/4 were amazing, but unfortunately the last quarter of the book went in a direction that was much less of my thing and I enjoyed it a lot less. Overall though, very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Racism, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Excrement, Racial slurs, and Slavery

kirtreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is nothing like I expected. The beginning was a little slow but once the plot took off it was very fast paced. The ending was so good. This is a movie worthy kind of story. It is really fun, action packed and full of twists. 

The characters do feel a little flat though. They aren’t fleshed out totally and the main character makes some choices that felt a little out of character. It isn’t enough that you are totally taken out of the story but it does make you pause a second. 

Overall it is a really good book, and you won’t go wrong reading it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Violence

gracklewarp's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

An incredibly crafted modern gothic story. This blended important topics and radical themes that I have been captivated by for a long time, and to see them captured in a blend of the gothic, speculative fiction, and Afrofuturist genres is absolutely breathtaking. The exploration of queer love and flawed family is a powerful throughline that really shines in a world where the protagonist could easily give in to the sheer despair of a heartless culture.

Some works of media that I felt this story lives in kinship with:
- Beloved by Toni Morrison, for its part-tender, part-visceral prose and handling of generational trauma and haunting
- The art of Firelei Baez and Wangechi Mutu, for their beautiful blend of human and inhuman, exploring symbiotic and antagonistic relationships between humans and the natural world
- Jordan Peele’s film Nope, in that it provides a uniquely Black perspective on the American attraction to spectacle and exploitation, and for the horror/sci-fi elements
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, for themes of hindsight and memory of an institution after you’ve escaped it

Of course, this is not to say that Sorrowland borrows too much from other works—on the contrary, it is a masterpiece of its own that will make you think differently not just about our country’s history of medical exploitation of Black people, but also the boundaries between different genres, the capabilities of the body under immense pressure, and our relationship to nature and society.

I would be so excited to analyze this book in a university setting and I hope it can be regarded as a rich and provocative text for a variety of disciplines: Race and Colonialism Studies, Gender and Sexuality, History, Creative Fiction, etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Stalking, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pregnancy, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Confinement, and Gun violence

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Gore, Sexual content, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Child death, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gun violence, Cursing, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.75

GOD i did NOT heed the trigger warnings and I honestly don't even have an excuse like I knew this was a horror novel and still picked it up. don't make my mistake and please be safe. Anyway this BOOK!!!! /pos
absolute fucking masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Vomit, Trafficking, Rape, Excrement, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Cancer

graphic: cult