Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Poster Girl by Veronica Roth

7 reviews

historyoftape's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Maybe reading darker books on airplanes will be a new habit. In any case I read this in one day of travel, which was unexpected for me as I thought this might be a book I'd have to sit with some more. It definitely covers some themes that will haunt me for a while, but at the same time the style is more quiet and calm so I felt like I had the time to think about things without being distracted by action or too many twists. There were twists, don't get me wrong, and action, but probably due to the main character's quietness and detatchedness they were less the forefront. 

I enjoyed how more and more bits and pieces of the characters stories are revealed as time passes on, and how some decisions make more sense in hindsight with the new knowledge I gained. This book also did a really good job at making morally grey characters lovable, and even evil ones likeable. As it says at one point, no amount of loving anyone will make them a better/good person. 

All in all I really liked this, even though it is not the genre I usually go for :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Spyware, being monitored by an implant

katenovah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual content, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Child death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Violence

alienexpert's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious

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

4.0

A decent dystopian novel with a common anti-tech theme. The characters and their backgrounds bring a realistic complexity to them, and knowing what is right or wrong. Roth’s writing felt a little odd to me, but it may also have been a cognitive choice to withhold small information from the reader to be revealed in a later chapter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, and Suicide

prairieraven's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Bullying, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Police brutality, Abandonment, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Violence

mariska's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Alcoholism, and Violence

marareading's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this look into a dystopian regime being overthrown by another government. Such an interesting thought process. The original corrupt government rewards citizens by paying/removing rewards via monitoring eye implants and reporting behaviors by citizens. When overthrown all citizens who supported the government are held in a secluded and guarded community for life. Including MC Sonya, who was the literal poster child for the deligation government. Now the new government is offering her her freedom in exchange for finding a missing person displaced my the deligation. She will find that the government she knew as a child wasn't as she thought it wasn't uncovering secrets and very uncomfortable information she didn't know she'd rather leave buried. 

This is a slow burn and I couldn't put it down. Perfect for a dystopian weekend read. Highly recommend, and eerily relevant to the times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Drug use, Medical trauma, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, and Suicidal thoughts

parchmentdreams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

Veronica Roth's Poster Girl is the first book I've read by the author, and what a book! Roth's adult dystopian novel is set in a post-surveillance society, featuring the literal "poster girl" of the previous regime - Sonya Kantor. 

We follow Sonya as she lives in the Aperture, a specially designed prison for the remnants of the Delegation. Poster Girl is the story of one young woman as she struggles to find herself - her identity and her role in life - in a society that has moved on without her. The novel cleverly and gently discusses topics such as surveillance and digital identities, suicide, societal and economic disparities, and how it feels to live in a world which no longer makes sense.

Roth's writing lends itself very well to film adaptation, in the way the author build us a world and almost places us inside it right alongside the main character. The lead herself, Sonya, had the potential to be an incredible unlikeable character, and while she was certainly a naive teen, as a woman her character is strong yet sensitive. I loved that Sonya was able to look back on the mistakes she had made as a child (and even as an adult) and recognise and make an effort to grow from those errors. She wasn't whiny or self-absorbed as a lot of characters in this sort of setting end up coming across, and I really enjoyed the chemistry between her and Alexander.

Overall, this was a very well written and engaging novel, about a young woman struggling to find and accept who she is in a post-surveillance world that has moved on without her. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves dystopian or speculative fiction, with sci-fi elements and in depth characters.

"She's a speck of dust here, unobserved and unremarked upon. Everywhere, in every direction, is emptiness. Everywhere, in every direction, is freedom."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Police brutality, Violence, Cursing, War, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, and Suicide attempt