Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

345 reviews

man_duh's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Despite having the twist spoiled I could not put this down. There’s something about the way Flynn writes truly detestable characters that you can’t help but be drawn to. As far as I will go down the thriller genre but  the deeply unsettling and general queasiness I felt when reading can only be the mark of great writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Death, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Murder, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Abandonment, Medical content, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Child death

meelmeman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Gillian Flynn is just an excellent writer and one of her talents is writing a main character who is deeply unlikeable but transparently so. In other words, it’s easy to dislike Camille from the outset but as you learn more about her, see through her eyes, etc. you empathize and tease out why she is the way she is. You don’t have to like her but at least you can humanize her. That’s what I like about Flynn—she creates difficult female characters that force you to reflect on your own biases. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body shaming, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fatphobia

joanne22rn's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Violence

purplexwidow's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book had me completely gripped from beginning to end. I started reading it just before the first episode of the show was released and both were so well done. It’s dark and twisted and perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

z0tvzo's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Cursing, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Rape, Child death, Death, Medical content, and Chronic illness

0live_tr33's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Child abuse, and Body shaming

growplantsreadbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

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

4.75

I saved the debut for last! The "twists" felt very obvious and we're annoyingly jammed into the last chapters, but I was still interested in how it all unfurled.  It's incredible that in Flynn's first book she is already an expert at holding up a mirror to the horrors that white women perpetrate. 

A message to those who didn't like this book because it made you uncomfortable: you SHOULD feel uncomfortable when consuming media about children being murdered ✌️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Rape, Murder, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty

lunababybat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a tough read for me, especially due to the subject matter. Not saying it's not good, but Sharp Objects is a much heavier read than Gone Girl. I especially relate to the self harm and narcissistic mother. It took me a while to get through it, but I'm glad I finished it. A good example of what generational trauma can do to a family, taken to the extreme.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Murder, Child death, and Mental illness

psychedelic_koala's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Alcoholism, Murder, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child death

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

The misogyny and detailed descriptions of minors bodies ruined the story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Vomit