Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon

8 reviews

alexlynx's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

Instantly bought the second book. This is so unhinged in the best way, I am almost unsure if I just read a real book. The most fascinating part of all of this was (without giving too much away) that the main character has many versions of themselves and the writing style changes according to that. It adapts over time as well and it is hilarious, exciting, scary, marvellous. Can't wait to read the second part.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Death, Grief, Animal death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Slavery, and Self harm

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

 

I held off on reviewing this until I read the closing sequel. I do like the sequel better than this first one, mostly because a ton of questions get answered and the character growth is a big deeper.

Godly Heathens showcases a ton of conflict, much of it saturated in teen angst and edgy one-liners. The dialogue was too try-hard for me, it felt like an adult assuming how queer teens talk? And this cast! The whole main cast is Queer, Trans/ Non-Binary, Native, Black, Latine, and some neurodivergence as well, and none of it is the target of harassment or bullying. We get to see Queer joy, Trans empowerment and normalization, all amongst a very stressful gods-coming-to-earth setting.

My biggest issue was remember who everyone is, the cast was so massive. There is a list of characters in the back, but unfortunately with audiobook... that doesn't help much. I wasn't a fan of the narrator at first, the cadence was hard for me to get into, but once I got their style is speaking it was fine and aided a lot in the characters. I did not like the demon's voice though, idk why, it was just so off. I listened to this via Libro.fm, which at the time was an ALC.

Some steamy make out scenes and daydreams, some references to sexual assault, lots of fantasy violence, lots of big emotions and meltdowns, scary moments with mental illness, and suicidal ideation.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Torture, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Colonisation, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, and Car accident

inlibrisveritas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

I wanted to love this. It has a poly-ship, messy gods/immortals with grey morality, non-binary/trans rep, etc. BI'm no stranger to main characters who screw up, make bad choices, or take detours into villainy but there were times when the tone sort of became disjointed? 

As it is, I'm interested in the sequel but I'll probably wait a bit after it's release to try it.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Toxic relationship, and Death

itsapaxycab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-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

4.75

This book was given to me as an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley. This does not change or influence my opinion of the book. 
I don't know where to start with this book. I read so few books with nonbinary mc's, and nonbinary mc's written so damn well. There is not a single instance of misgendering or deadnaming in this entire book, which is a beautiful thing sometimes. You can tell me it's not realistic, but it is fantasy, and anything can be true when you put your mind to it. 
Morally grey characters are another big thing to me, and this book has done it so well I'm still conflicted on how I feel about every goddamn character in these 400 pages. It is usually easy to find who is the hero in a story, but there is not a single one in this book.
So many of the main plot points are spoilers so I will discuss them more below.  

Because so many of these characters are eternal beings who have lived a whole millennium on earth in so many different bodies, along with their previous life in another world, it is so deeply hard to name any single one as right or wrong, and I think that is a beautiful thing. I want to be challenged when I read, and this has certainly done so.

 
My only big critique is the action. I struggled with this in H.E. Edgmon's other duology as well. While there are a few action-packed scenes that drive the story forward, I get lost in it very easily. The details and so many characters at once get hard to distinguish, especially when each character uses 2-3 names, as they did in this one. I am not great with names as it is, and this made it harder. 
This story will continue to sit with me as I wait for its release and eagerly anticipate the sequel coming in April 2024. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Addiction

ladykyuuketsuki's review against another edition

dark 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Ableism, Colonisation, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

kharlan3's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

Gem is a nonbinary teen living in small town Georgia, and things have never felt quite right- especially that their best friend lives all the way in New York City. This not-right-ness comes to a head as disconcerting things start to happen and Gem learns that they're a reincarnation of a god from another universe, in the midst of a generation-spanning war for the lives of their fellow gods and the world they left behind. 

I completely adored this book. Gem is complex- I rooted for them, but they make bad, messy, heartfelt decisions left and right. The thing that this book did the best was Gem's inner life- the combination of their mental health issues and the memories of their past lives flowing together, the all-consuming yearning that can't be contained to a single object of affection, the coping skills they try to use but aren't quite enough. I haven't seen quite this point of view on trans-ness, gender, mental illness, and growing up in the rural south anywhere else.

This book ends on a cliffhanger, and I can't wait for the next one- H.E. Edgmon hasn't disappointed me yet!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Transphobia, Mental illness, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Torture, Infidelity, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Self harm, War, and Suicidal thoughts

krisalexcole's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Vomit, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, War, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Transphobia, and Cursing

lycangrrl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

Another stunning book by H.E. Edgmon. It took a little bit for me to get into it (you're kinda just thrown into everything without a lot of explanations and books that start like that are often a bit difficult for me because I get frustrated not knowing what's going on) but once I got a few chapters in, I was completely engrossed. 

Gem is a nonbinary teen living in Seminole, GA. They are unabashedly queer and are always charming their peers. Underneath however, they are an anxious mess. Not least of all because they worry they are losing their sanity. They have visions of being a god called the Magician and helping another god, The Shade, murder the other god in the pantheon. Gem's father is mentally ill and they worry that, as much as these seem like visions or memories, they are actually hallucinations. Their only true confidant is a trans boy named Enzo who lives in NY. 

A girl named Willa Mae comes to their school and we find out that she is one of the gods, Gem is the Magician, and they actually sent all the still living gods to this realm a long time ago and they keep being reborn and will continue to do so unless Gem is killed with a specific weapon which will allow the gods to return home. It is slowly revealed that other teens in the town are reincarnations of the gods and they are all slowly remembering what has happened to them. Some new girls come to town and begin going after Gem to try and kill them, all eventually leading to a final confrontation with Gem, Willa Mae, and Enzo against the gods who want to see Gem destroyed.

An amazing story with many twists and turns that really drew me in. I was in love with Enzo immediately and love where his story ended up going. And that cliffhanger ending! Can't wait for the second book to see how everything unfolds.

ARC provided by NetGalley

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Drug use, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Alcohol