Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

3 reviews

kaziaroo's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

3.5

I picked this up because I enjoyed the film, although I didn't realise it was based on a children's book. It did contain some very undisguised dark themes though, so if it wasn't for the age of the characters, the writing style and some of the humour, I'd be tempted to call it YA.

It's a shame to see that children's stories still rely on fatphobia and making fun of "ugly" people for humour, and there was a lot of stereotyping of what "good" and "evil" people look like – although a lot of this is critiqued by the narrative, there were some blurred lines: for example, while we are shown that being mean to Dot about her fatness is bad, the author also mentions her size nearly every time she appears, and her size and appetite makes up most of her characterisation. Thankfully, there wasn't a hooked nose in sight, unlike in the film. 

While the plot dragged a bit in places, I really enjoyed the characters in this book and loved the portrayal of a character's descent into madness and the protagonists' respective identity crises. It was a really fun, if dark, read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Fatphobia, Medical content, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness

_ren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Reads like fanfiction to me. An amazing, great world, but with obnoxious tropes and characters. This was definitely written by a beginner writer.

APPARENTLY, THE AUTHOR COMPLETELY RUINS IT IN THE 2ND BOOK, SO I WILL NOT BE READING THE REST OF THE SERIES.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Torture, Sexism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Gore, Grief, Body shaming, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, War, Vomit, and Violence

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, and Kidnapping

Minor: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia

hayleyvem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Violence, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Torture, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, and Lesbophobia