Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

5 reviews

smasson13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. 

It is so faced paced, I read it so quickly, yet it feels like it took years out of my life to sit with these characters. 

At the start, I may have gotten a little lost between who was who and where everyone was, but the character list and map were very helpful. 

Really this book was a beautiful reflection of being a young person, with a foot in the adult world but not all of the pieces. It was soft and heartfelt and made my soul hurt just a little...but in a good way.

I would love to teach a book like this to teenagers, I think it would really help young people feel seen. 

Absolutely read this book. 

Note: while the topics of this book are very heavy, it's written in a lyrical way through the eyes of children, so there is a heavy weight to these topics...yet nothing is graphic 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abandonment

Minor: Incest, Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Forced institutionalization

beyourbestshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

brookey8888's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

This was fine. I didn’t know what it was about I just heard people talking about it forever ago. I did like how all the POVs connected at the end. I liked the characters and their stories and how they grew. I do wish we got more of the history and cultural aspects. I liked the message and lessons of the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Classism, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Colonisation, Car accident, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3.5 stars. The writing is beautiful. I realised I'm not the biggest fan of intertwining stories though. They just seems so coincidental and unrealistic often. 
I don't know what this story is trying to tell me, I think some message of hope and connectedness? Dora's story made me cry.
Uhhhm might update this review once i've gathered my thoughts haha. 


I probably forgot some trigger warnings 😬 lmk if I need to add any!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Racial slurs