Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

8 reviews

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Hate crime, Medical content, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Murder, Transphobia, Ableism, Addiction, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Bullying, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

rxanne5's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? N/A

4.5

I have re read this book a few times by now. I do love this book a lot. 

I'm a huge nerd so it's only natural I'm liking this book so much. It has been a while since I read it again though. There are spoilers ahead!

I love the character building in this book. I like how Marieke Nijkamp builds characters disabled or lgbtq+ people can relate to without it being a huge plot point or something that tries to get 'fixed' throughout the book.

I could also relate to some of the characters. I do like the plot twists in this book, but I had a bad feeling about Liv the whole time already. This is definitely my favorite book if the two I have read by this author and I also got a friend hooked on this. 

There are some beautiful quotes in this book, that also made me think for a while. Great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Transphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Ableism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Self harm

flat221b's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Marieke does it again! Another page-turner for my collection. I simply could not put it down (except for around the climax - I shouldn’t have been reading at night! 😨) It goes between 5 POVs of a friend group who battles struggles internally, within themselves, and within their group. Has a true DND feel to it that I really appreciated! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Mental illness, Blood, and Drug abuse

bradley's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Child death, Mental illness, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic friendship

nyoom's review

dark reflective slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Medical trauma and Toxic relationship

Minor: Colonisation

kamiacam's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Transphobia

plumpaperbacks's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

I added Even If We Break to my tbr on impulse because it sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, I only liked three of the five leads, and I wasn’t really invested in the story. Not only am I hardly interested in roleplaying, but it was also quite easy, in my opinion, to guess who the antagonist was. By the time I was halfway done, I had two predictions, and one of them ended up being correct. If I’m being honest, it was disappointing. Said antagonist didn’t have a good reason for any of their actions.

I nearly gave the book two stars, but bumped it up by half because I did end up really liking Ever, Finn, and Maddy. Their friendship was sweet and genuine, and Ever and Finn’s budding romance was super cute.

Ultimately, I’m not sure I’d recommend this, and I’m not sure Nijkamp’s work is my cup of tea. Thrillers really are hit or miss.

Representation

• trans bisexual protagonist that uses they/them pronouns
• trans protagonist that uses he/him pronouns
• autistic bisexual protagonist with chronic pain
• bisexual protagonist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Blood, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Death, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Body shaming, Violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Physical abuse and Self harm

maisierosereads's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence