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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
44 reviews
haileyeh's review
3.0
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Infidelity
Minor: Abortion
sierrah_2101's review
4.25
For me, this book was a fairly slow start as Kolker first sets up the history between Mimi and Don, where we can already see cracks forming in their partnership. But, once Donald - their first son - was born, things quickly spiraled from there. My main appreciation for this book was Kolker's writing. Whether it comes to complicated family interactions or translating complex technical and medical discoveries for the layman. It very rarely dragged, and at times, it almost felt like time was moving too fast through the pages. I never felt lost or overwhelmed until the
As for the downsides, there were only two major ones. One of which other reviewers have also brought up multiple times, but I wish that there was more discussion of the personal thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of other family members other than the two youngest daughters, which are Kolker's focuses throughout the story. I understand the difficulty in interviewing people with schizophrenia, especially people with as severe cases as some of the Galvin sons had, but it almost felt like half the story was missing without their opinions and ideas presented really at all.
The other is that, despite the many decades of devoted scientific work it feels as though... Not much happened? Again, I can't blame this on Kolker at all, I went into this book understanding it wasn't going to "crack the case on schizophrenia" at all, but there sadly wasn't much more than,
Overall, this is a fascinating and very digestible read that will leave you just as hopeful as upset with everything these parents and twelve children went through. An enlightening and humble book, I would highly recommend Kolker's work to anyone interested in the history of mental illnesses and the monumental cultural and scientific changes that America has seen in the past 60 years. 4.25/5 stars.
Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Incest, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Emotional abuse, Drug use, War, Physical abuse, and Infidelity
lindsii's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Incest, and Pedophilia
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Drug use
lookinabook's review
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Cursing, Medical trauma, Suicide, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Abortion
alexstartsthings's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness
Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Suicide, and Drug use
Minor: War and Animal cruelty
missmichalalynn's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Self harm, Pedophilia, Drug use, Death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
ajpb's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Drug use, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Mental illness
spaghetti_noodle's review
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Forced institutionalization
samanthabryan34's review
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide, Drug use, and Rape
katebooklist's review
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Murder, Incest, Medical trauma, Sexism, Addiction, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Child abuse, Cursing, Dementia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Child death