Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

40 reviews

pn__'s review

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

Minor: Classism and Eating disorder

michela_ognibeni's review against another edition

emotional sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

makimariposa's review

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Death, and Medical content

saint_mikael's review

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

stellabyproxy's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

veronika decides to die to escape the mundanity of her life. she isn’t depressed, or vengeful, or even insane. she is simply attempting to fast track what she believes will be a cyclical life of ennui, towards the one inevitable fate that awaits us all: death. despite her failed attempt, her heart is said to be irreversibly damaged. death is definitively days away, but even that prognosis will not suffice. 

she wants to die, but on her own terms.

inspired by paulo coelho’s own life, seen in brief self inserts in which he briefly relays his experience of being institutionalised three time, we follow veronika on a fresh path as she becomes acquainted with her fellow patients. if you’re looking for a plot heavy novel with twists and turns, this might not be it. with her days said to literally be numbered, the characters are the life sustaining breath that keeps us tethered to veronika’s story and her growth appears exponential in wake of the little time she has left. 

although it isn’t very plot heavy, it is interesting to see the different perspectives of certain characters, their treatment and the biases and connotations of mental health simply reduced in coelho’s style. the depictions are not necessarily world-bending, but rather a reminder of the views and philosophies that culminate into the pretence that is society. the goals, expectations and desires we squash for the sake of “normalcy”. and the sanctity and tranquility that can be found in detaching from social norms with others who all want the same thing. an escape. from mental illness, from responsibility, and even from life itself. which begs the big question: “what does it mean to be crazy?” when we’re all a little bit mad?

veronika decides to die can simply be described in the words of a random tweet i came across two months ago: “the arc of my 20s is discovering that heartbreak, sadness, and suffering are not that bad. the real enemy is ennui. i’m not afraid of bad local optima, i’m afraid of flat energy landscapes.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jhabelita's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

It was okay. There are nice quotes about life that I liked but nothing much of the plot that made me stick 100%. I just powered through it. Thanks to audiobook!

The story is not all about Veronika's failed suicide, it also tackled Mari's life as a lawyer and a wife and Eduard, a 17-y/o schizophrenic and Veronika's love interest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual content and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

liri_reads's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

2.0

The story began extremely promising and I loved reading about all of the main characters stories and motives, but some parts were extremely weird and irritating (yes I’m mainly referring to the author’s self-insert in the story) + maybe it’s just me but

Veronika surviving was disappointing and more predictable than her dying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit

emmentalol's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Suicide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

zamakodknjiga's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Stomak mi se prevrnuo od čitanja ove knjige i to ne zato što je bila gnusna, nego zato što je tako istinita. Sve je postalo još teže kad sam saznala razlog iza trenutka u kome Veroniku naziva svojom prijateljicom.

Sve vreme dok sam čitala razmišljala sam o dve stvari: "da li je ova knjiga za mene?" i "šta je to ludost?". Nije mi bilo svejedno da je čitam, a s druge strane sam zavolela likove iz knjige najviše jer sam mogla duboko da ih razumem.

Ova knjiga bu mogla da spada u horor realnosti u koji smo kao čovečanstvo zapali. I zato ne bih mogla bilo kome da je preporučim. Ono u šta sam sigurna je da je kniiga teška i da vuče na razmišljanje. I da je vredi pročitati, u svoje vreme.

Volela bih da sam maj započela malo vedrijom temom, ali definitivno mi je drago što sam ovu knjigu pročitala jer je u suprtonom ne bih uzela.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Chronic illness, and Eating disorder

Minor: Sexual content