Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

18 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

sonygaystation's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Gaslighting, Biphobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Homophobia

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

queen_of_crows's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. When I found it, I was on the warpath to find some hard-core high fantasy. I talked to a lady at Barnes and Noble and she handed me this book. I almost put it back down but figured why not. I wasn't particularly motivated to read any of the other books I bought so I started in on this one. I was hooked halfway through the first chapter. Ash is dark and so thoroughly broken. I related to him on so many levels. Then Darian came along and he's so easily loveable. So polite and understanding. It almost made me cry the first time I read it. I finished the book in three days. It was such an incredible read. Honestly if you're looking for a good broken romance this the book I would recommend every time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Homophobia

analenegrace's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

3.5

The thing I appreciate most about Alexis Hall is his ability to write completely unlikeable characters but keep you engaged in their story. He is also funny in a way I don't think I fully get because I am American, and god, Alexis Hall is the most British British author to ever British. 

I've read most of his books at this point, and I genuinely don't know if I ever come out of them having loved them, but I also keep wanting to read anything he writes. When I saw this, his earliest book, was getting an expanded rerelease, I figured I'd pick it up; It was so very Alexis Hall in a way I think I've grown to appreciate even though they are very, very wild books to read.

Plot and character-wise, this was sad, hopeful, and kind of lovely. The writing of the Essex accent really had me laughing because it reminded me of reading Harry Styles fanfic in like 2014, I guess, which is when this book was first written...

Lastly, the religious references and comparison were hilarious, and the part where he compared "being a bit mean at a wedding" to Peter denying Jesus Christ had me actually laughing at my desk. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Biphobia, Cursing, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Fatphobia

lost_windsock's review

challenging emotional funny 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

5.0

I absolutely loved Darian. I loved Ash, as well, but Darian was the literal shining star of this book. His ability to be himself, see Ash for who he was, and love him despite how difficult Ash made it, was just a treat. It was clear throughout the book that Darian didn't have the most confidence in himself, but he powered through that to be as glitteringly incandescent as he was anyway. The character growth of both Darian and Ash was so sweet to see, and I even thought I would hate Niall forever at the beginning and I ended up liking him, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts

loganoxymore's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Medical trauma

Minor: Fatphobia

achay91'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization

jencolumb0's review

dark emotional funny inspiring medium-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

4.75

Parts of this book are hard to read, particularly if you have any direct or tangential experience with depression. Nonetheless, it all ends up okay and is a tender love story, which makes the difficult bits thoroughly worthwhile. (The easy, rooted perspective of Darian’s glitter pirate helps too.) The insight into the experience of depression and what it takes to re-establish oneself among the living is particularly important to have depicted in literature and I am glad that Hall has done so here.

As a Hall fan who read Boyfriend Material first, I thoroughly enjoyed the annotations to/extras included in this edition. Though they occupy different worlds, it was fun to see thee bits of Luc and Oliver rooted in Glitterland. Definitely a worthwhile read on multiple levels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Classism, Alcohol, Biphobia, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

kcbatts's review

emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Biphobia and Forced institutionalization