Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Wellness by Nathan Hill

11 reviews

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Great exploration of humans, couples, and how each person's baggage doesn't just go away magically. 
Definitely had me reflecting a lot about my own life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Ableism, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abortion

jennipea382's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Infidelity

breanneporter's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

I really enjoyed this. I was a bit intimidated by the length but I was hooked early, and I’m very glad I picked it up. Wellness follows Jack and Elizabeth, a straight couple who meet and fall in love as college students in Chicago in the early 90s, each having just escaped their trauma-filled pasts and crappy parents. We get their origin story and then it jumps twenty years in the future as they’re raising a young son and experiencing some marital trouble. Throughout the novel we go back and forth in time to reveal more and more relevant information about their respective careers and upbringings: Jack is an artist and adjunct professor hiding a particularly traumatic event from his childhood and Elizabeth is a research scientist interested in the power of belief and placebo effects who operates in a ethical gray area and tries to distance herself as much as she can from her wealthy and perfectionist family tree. 

The novel takes some interesting risks with style and storytelling that I really liked. It also isn’t always totally clear what it’s about, or at least it definitely doesn’t go where you as the reader think it will. It’s surprising and emotional and an intriguing read. I particularly liked the descriptions of Elizabeth’s career and of Jack’s childhood. I do think
Jack is a more sympathetic character, but I don’t know if that’s just because I personally relate more to his way of thinking and relating to his wife (and the world). I liked that we got both perspectives and that many other characters helped fill out the world. Somehow, after 19 hours on audio, I still felt like the ending was a bit rushed and unsatisfying (I wanted more!) and I’m not totally sure what to take away from this tale, but I know I’ll be thinking about it for a while longer and I’m really glad I read it. Recommend!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

graceelllen12's review

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

mercerhanau's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Addiction, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Alcohol, Cancer, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Pregnancy

hdunscombe's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Gaslighting, Blood, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Child death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

e11en's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cancer

javablue's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Child abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

erikagibson126's review

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cancer, Animal death, Physical abuse, Bullying, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

The best part of this book was the ending for two reasons: 1) it was finally over and 2) it was truly the only part of the story I thought was well told. For the ray of the time, I kept wondering why this book was so damned long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Cancer, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury