Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Wych Elm by Tana French

9 reviews

birdsandships's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug use, Terminal illness, Stalking, Death, Suicide, Medical trauma, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Cancer, Violence, and Murder

markandcover's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Violence, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

te_ss_i's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Cancer, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Rape, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Death, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexual violence

cfell's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Cancer, Dementia, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Self harm

zalouis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence

ellipalmer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It's hard to say much about what I liked about The Witch Elm without venturing into topics that feel like spoilers. It took about 150 pages to get to the meat of the story, which felt like a long time. If it were another author who I didn't know I might have felt annoyed, but in my experience Tana French knows what she's doing. While I still feel like the first 1/3 dragged a bit, pushing through definitely paid off. The writing is top knotch, French a master of plot and psychologically complex character development. I watched an interview with her where she said that she's less interested in "who did it" than "who the detective is" and the impact of the mystery/story on the person trying to work their way through it and find the truth. I think that's what makes her stories so good. You want to know who did it, but the payoff is deeper and longer lasting because solving the mystery doesn't put the world back in order. The detective is forever changed and solving the case doesn't bring the satisfaction and closure they hoped it would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

rileyreadsagain's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Dementia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Homophobia

Minor: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Drug use

yo_tdo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

madzsmiled's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pregnancy and Self harm