Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan

7 reviews

fizzy_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

2.0

This book dragged on for me, especially when it came to the relationship between Jubilee and Ridley. They had no chemistry and the relationship felt really unbalanced between them. The relationship struck me as dysfunctional from the book's outset.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

wardenred's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

How can I tell if it’s my gut talking or my myriad of anxiety disorders?

Even through a big, long reading slump, I really enjoyed this freeform retelling of Romeo & Juliet. It's a queer m/f romance (one of the leads is bi, the other still hasn't found a label that fits her) with a focus on mental health and co-dependency. I felt like both subjects were handled thoughtfully and realistically. There were a lot of familiar moments here, reminding me of the mistakes I made when I was younger. 

It took me a bit to get used to Jubilee's narrator. On the other hand, Michael Crouch won my heart immediately with the way he handled Ridley's chapters. He did a great job making Ridley's anxiety and depression tangible in each line. I also really liked how the texting chapters were handled, with the audio effects and with both narrators present.

I do wish the book was presented in a way that's more compatible with its contents. The cover and the blurb both make me think I'm in for a light-hearted romcom, and this book isn't that. Yes, there are plenty of cute moments, but overall, the story is pretty heavy and involves dark subjects such as suicidal behavior and domestic abuse. I'm glad I skimmed some reviews before I read it; otherwise I would have expected something very different, and it would have impacted my perception of this overall great novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt

aromarrie's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident and Medical content

kaitielou's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, and Drug use

morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Car accident, Sexism, and Medical content

Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Biphobia

Also contains depictions of an alcoholic parent and mentions of blackmail.

lapis's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

My blog has a more in-depth essay of how I related to this book.   

https://blogs.booktoot.club/lapis/on-being-seen-in-stories 

What I love about this book is that while there is a romance, that really isn't the point of the book.
It's a mental health book that made me feel extremely seen.

Now I will warn you:  One of the viewpoint characters struggles with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. If you also struggle with those things, reading this becomes a really unpleasant experience, but I highly recommend you tough it out if you are in a mental place where you are able to do so! 

This is the best depiction of intrusive thoughts and anxiety I have seen. I don't know if Jennifer Dugan personally has anxiety problems, but if she doesn't, she really did her research. Seriously, as Nebraska's most anxious person, I felt very seen. 

I also felt very seen because of its frank discussion of suicide. I know not everyone can handle that, but I could really use more books that discuss it and make me feel like less of a freak for having had these problems. And books that teach you how to talk with suicidal people (spoiler: it's not by demonizing them). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

Please understand while I included a lot of content warnings, I felt Dugan knew what she was doing. Everything felt very deliberate and measured.