Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

26 reviews

duckydarlingg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Death, Infidelity, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Classism, and Misogyny

zoelapulgita's review

dark tense 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

2.75

Points for keeping me a bit captivated towards the second half of the book however, I wasn't to happy with the pacing.

Not a fan of the back & forth of timelines and then towards last couple of chapters, the changing of how the narration was done felt like a weird decision. I would've preferred multiple narrators instead... like, if you're going to do it towards the end of the book, might as well do it from the very beginning? It would've worked better for storytelling purposes.

I understand that the main character isn't meant to be likable but no one was likeable. So many characters and I couldn't choose one to root for.

I can though appreciate that the ending wasn't predictable. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Homophobia

violagirl25's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Biphobia, Addiction, Infidelity, Rape, Vomit, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Medical content, Mental illness, Outing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Stalking, Alcohol, and Cursing

lilawsahar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Holy shit.

I can’t believe Mint killed Heather because he thought it was Jessica. I also can’t believe Mint and Jessica just let her die. They did nothing to save her. They are literally perfect together. I can’t believe that Cooper still wants her even though he’s a good person and she is most definitely not. Also I can’t believe Mint kept dating Jessica even after he thought he killed her!! Wtf. Why didn’t he break up with her if he hated her so much. Also what was he planning on telling Jessica when she ran after Cooper in the present day Homecoming…

All the people in this book are really shitty. They make terrible life choices and only think about themselves. They all need therapy.

Jake cheated on Heather throughout their relationship with Frankie. Frankie cheated with Jake. Mint KILLED Heather and never truely loved Jessica just liked being admired by her. Cooper cheated with Jessica. Heather threatened to expose Frankie for taking drugs and wanted to expose Jake for being gay. She also lied about how much work she put into her life and drove Jessica mad. Caro stalked her friends because she wanted to be included in everything. Jessica let Heather die and cheated on Mint. What a shitty group of friends.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Death of parent, Body horror, Drug abuse, Rape, Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Homophobia, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Stalking, Religious bigotry, and Outing

bootsmom3's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Outing, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Classism, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death of parent, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Murder

rachelcotter1's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Outing, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

pageafter_paige's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

This books was so good! There was insane drama and toxic friendships that had me glued to my kindle! The characters flaws all come to light and it’s just so messy in the best way! I know I’ll be thinking about this one for awhile! 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug use

clairew97's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual violence, Stalking, Vomit, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Mental illness

cady_sass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Holyyyyyyyy. That was a rollercoaster! I am not usually a fan of an unreliable narrator, and the only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that. You will go back and forth the whole book on whether or not you think she’s trustworthy, and I won’t spoil it, but it’s maddening and that’s intentional. This is a master class in unlikable characters, they’re all absolutely horrible including and most particularly the narrator. Do I hate her? Do I like I her? Do I think she’s guilty? What is she not telling me? Lots of dark and twisty turns and absolutely no stone is left unturned. I spent my entire day reading this and I have no regrets 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexism, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

diorra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

One of my favorites book. This book made me feel so much, sadness, joy, panic, excitement, shock. The whole package. I loved it so much. It was addicting, I couldn't put it down. This was so amazing. I feel so connected to these characters, especially Jessica. It had everything I loved: secrets, morally grey protagonist, drama, just so fun and thrilling. This novel really stuck with me. I had one of the biggest book hangovers cause of it, couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't put it down.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Drug use, Murder, and Drug abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Infidelity