Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

We the Animals by Justin Torres

8 reviews

yleavy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Outing, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Homophobia

specificwonderland's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

In a way, not too much happened in this brief novella. In another way, so much happened. To list out the plot points is novella-length, a truncated bulleted list. To describe the characters' inner workings is a much larger project. I felt for these brothers and their survival. You could see how Paps exerted his influence but the kids didn't fully shrink away or lose themselves until the final threads of the story got woven. He exerted his influence on the mom from day 1, to everyone's detriment. You could feel the helplessness of the kids being swept along with the parents' bullshit. You hope kids are well cared for by competent parents but that's not always the case. Parents can just be people, and people are imperfect to some degree. And what a cast of ancillary characters: the neighbor, the bus driver and the mom's coworker Camrade. Re: the neighbor, it's infuriating that kids could be outside bouncing a ball yelling about the abuse they were bearing and the neighbor would be like, 'Hmmm this is a perfect time to show neglected kids incest porn'. But you know that happens in small towns, big towns, rich towns, poor towns. These kids never stood a chance, but they had each other.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Rape

uhhjeepers's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.75

Read for school.

This is a fast-paced, vignette styled narrative that tells the coming of age story of the youngest of three brothers. This book really came together for me at the end, and I strongly recommend it. It is emotional and honest and the writing is spectacular. The growth from the narrative feeling like it’s told from a child to a teenager really stuck with me, like I could read the changes on the page.

Check for TWs. They’re brief and don’t go into excruciating detail, but I still definitely felt them.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Outing, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

librarymouse's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad

• 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

5.0

This book pulls at the threads of humanity, fraying the fabric until it's distilled to its purest parts. The narrator shows the core memories of childhood, building up into the moment of the fracturing of his family unit and the unit that was made up of his brothers. Their childlike, experimenting, queered, and crushed mother makes such a complex character, as does their father and the juxtaposition of his tenderness and machismo. This book is truly unsettling and full of life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Outing, Sexism, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, and Incest

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

cococorycollins's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Drug use, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Adult/minor relationship

fructosebaby's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, and Alcohol

bail33's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I just finished reading this and this is the kind of book that will take a day to finish but will stay with you the rest of your life. Nothing I can say will properly communicate how this book made me feel. Incredible writing, incredible composition, outstanding book.

Many are rating it lower because of how sad it is, or because they expected typical novel composition, or because of the abruptness of the last chapter. I’ll say that the last chapter doesn’t feel abrupt if you’re picking up on the breadcrumbs left by Torres throughout the latter half of the book; the composition is absolutely perfect for the content, in my opinion because it mirrors the disjointedness that was the life of these brothers; and the sadness makes sense, as the book is loosely based off of Torres’ life and the sadness seems appropriate for the content and the amount he is reflecting on his upbringing. Everything in this novel felt right to me, and all of the artistic choices felt like they fit perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Abandonment

faythfarrar's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault