Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

9 reviews

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

Ash Winters is frequently a mess and thinks he's unlovable. With BPD driving a mix of depression and anxiety, he's given up on actually feeling emotions and being interested in anyone longer than a one-night stand. Some guy from Essex was supposed to be such a one-night stand, it wasn't supposed to matter that he has a name (Darian), or that he is annoyingly upbeat, or that he's from Essex, because it was supposed to be over. But it's not. Ash runs into Darian again and wants that spark of some emotion again, because he's pretty sure it was a good emotion.

Ash and Darian genuinely work well together, I love how their relationship develops. Ash is just as much of an asshole by the end of the book as the start, but he's more sure of himself and more willing to take risks for Darian than it seems like he was for his other friends. Due to his high anxiety, "taking risks" includes, in this case, going to the store, spending the night in the same bed, and being emotionally vulnerable. Neither of them are people it's necessarily easy to be around (Ash moreso than Darian), and that shows up in many different ways.

The ending caught me off guard, especially the incident which precedes it. I was pleasantly surprised by how things end up, but the story lingers in an uncomfortable situation for far longer than I can normally handle reading. Part of what helped is the way the narrative had handled anxiety and tension up until that point, I had built up enough trust in the author that I was able to wait for how things shook out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Biphobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Suicide attempt, and Medical trauma

elliott_the_clementine's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

As always, I feel incredibly seen. Alexis Hall has a talent for writing books that excellently represent mental illness but are still bearable to read for folks (like me) who struggle with similar issues as his characters. I do not have the words to fully express how much I adored Glitterland - so much so that I devoured it in an evening. Stunning, as all of Hall’s books are. 

Also, Darian is an angel. A seriously awesome guy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Alcohol, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcoholism

Minor: Abandonment

pawtory's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.0

I honestly don't know how I feel about this book? It was good but also manic pixie dream boy vs mental illness.  The mental illness isn't handwaved or anything but I'm not sure if it was realistically portrayed in the context of the relationship either. Idk, hard to pin down what I'm trying to say and I'm sorry for that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Ableism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Please don't take my warnings as comprehensive gospel I probably missed some and may have miscatrgorized too.

adrienanthony's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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: Self harm, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Classism, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Body shaming, Cursing, and Biphobia

lynns_lovely_library's review

emotional hopeful 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

3.75

This book was good but not great. I am always a fan of gay romance and mental health representation but it wasn't my favorite out the genre. I loved the romance and the development of the characters though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Ableism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol and Bullying

utopiastateofmind's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) 

TW: bipolar disorder, anxiety

Glitterland is a story about love, mental health, and taking chances on ourselves. It features some truly endearing, complex, vulnerable characters like Ash. Who is still trying to figure out who he is as it intermixes with his mental health. I immediately loved Darian, how he's a ray of sunshine who has depth, but also heart. Yet my heart always reached out to Ash. How he doesn't trust his own happiness. The ways he feels betrayed.

How sometimes we just need someone who can show us a glimpse of another world. Another experience, a new horizon. It's not about someone changing who we are, but about someone who believes in us and wants the best for us. To believe in us when it's difficult for us to do so. Someone who isn't afraid to challenge us when we aren't being honest with ourselves or to introduce us to new experiences. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Ableism

meganpbennett's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

1.5

Glitterland was recommended to me by an Alexis Hall fan, so when I saw that it was on NetGalley, I requested it. It... it wasn't what I was expecting, even having read several AJH books before and knowing how he plays with his genres and his readers. It was a lot darker than even the trigger warning at the beginning would have suggested, much darker and much more detailed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

tami_teshima's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

It's difficult to summarize why I really enjoyed this book. I am always a big fan of contemporary romance and ESPECIALLY so for the opposites-attract-trope, so it was likely that this was already going to be at least 3.5/5 stars for me. However, I had a hard time getting into this book at first. Having to walk with Ash during his often disjointed, frenetic, and always unkind self-loathing made this book somewhat difficult to read. The juxtaposition of Darian - his warmth, his kindness, his humor, his ESSEX ACCENT! (dang, Alexis Hall) - gave the book appropriate balance and only added to both characters' development. 

Bonus points for mental illness representation, frequent literary references, and steamy romance scenes!

Marks off for Niall and his persistent ableist rants and perhaps a slight oversimplification of being in relationship with someone with a mental illness (I say this as a person with mental illness). 

Overall, I highly recommend this read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Ableism, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

mandaraffe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Ableism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Fatphobia and Abandonment