Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

102 reviews

kiwichill's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.5

Sad story, it was a struggle to read.  It's confronting and gloomy storyline was hard to finish.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Grief, Sexism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Bullying

elharpwhy's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment and Child abuse

cassiereadsbooks_'s review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

i think the premise and some of the commentary made were interesting, but it was just soooooo long to get through. it gets a bit stagnant in the middle section; i think at least 20 pages could've been easily cut and in general it could've been edited down to make the thesis more poignant and succinct. when i did get into a good reading rhythm, it was enjoyable, but because it is essentially several small snippets within each chapter, it feels like you're taking so much time to make minimal progress, which i think distracted me from the overall plot! but there are some good ideas in here, and it does make one reflect on what it means to be a proper parent particular with a childcare system like that of the US's constantly waiting to tear "bad" moms in particular down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Confinement, Abandonment, Infidelity, Classism, Death, and Forced institutionalization

claudiashelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

I’ve been tormented by dystopia and mystery books lately, and for the start of my June reading, I tried to shoot this book. I am safe to say this book is so beautifully well-written but also a crazy and disturbing story. I mean, unsettling story about parenthood particularly when mothers get punished for their mistakes. Plus, when I first read this book I felt so mad at everyone, particularly the social workers.

❝ 𝘉𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵. ❞

ᅠ

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, and Mental illness

afriendwithfiction's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Moderate: Medical content

jillyclaire23's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.0

I read chapters 1-9 of this book, skipped the middle section, then read the last chapter. Most of the middle was extremely triggering and hard to read. Otherwise, I loved this book. It sheds light on the very specific struggles of mothers who are targeted by Child Protective Services. Mothers, especially of color, are disproportionately policed and punished for being “bad” mothers in real life. Another thought experiment that draws heavily on reality (it’s based off a true story), the sci-fi element is such a cool touch on a subject so horrifying that it didn’t even need fictional embellishment. This novel shows us how much society criticizes and disciplines mothers for not fitting cultural and behavioral norms, and how so many power structures (having to do with race, class, gender, mental health/ability, etc) are exaggerated for mothers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, Suicide, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Racism

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Biphobia, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

ottercorg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

A heavy read with a slow first half, I did enjoy this one. An interesting premise full of antagonists that made me want to pull my hair out for their ignorance, but not enough to make me want to stop reading. 

I appreciated Chan's writing style and characters, and for once also appreciated the open ending. 

I think a true happy ending wouldn't have been appropriate, but a true sad/negative ending would've been overkill or too much to take.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Suicide

mushymargo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.75

Wish it focused more on the plot and less on the characters sadness  and loathing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Torture