Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Паперовий палац by Miranda Cowley Heller

9 reviews

jadedjill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

This book was extremely slow, gross, and triggering in pretty much any way possible. It covers them all. Never been so happy to be done with a book.

chapterchatswithcaroline's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Paper Palace had been sitting on my TBR ever since this book came out and was hyped.

The story follows Elle, who is vacationing in Cape Cod at her grandfather’s family home called the Paper Palace, along with her family and long-time best friend. When she is met with an unexpected situation, she must choose between her long-awaited love or the life she has with her loving husband and three children.

The book is certainly beautifully written, but there wasn’t anything that wowed me much about it. I felt the author played it safe. However, it was a story that kept me hooked because I wanted to see how it would end and who Elle would ultimately choose. That curiosity was a good enough reason to keep me engaged.

The book was a slow burner, and some chapters dragged on. The dual timeline also got confusing at times, making it difficult to distinguish between past and present, especially since 80% of the book is written in flashbacks. Additionally, dividing the book into five parts with three parts named after the main characters seemed unnecessary, as the story continued in the same style and was told from Elle’s point of view. If the story had been told from multiple points of view, this division might have made more sense.

The characters were okay, not much to love or hate; they all had their own secrets, lies, and burdens to carry. The book is full of trigger warnings and explicit sex scenes that readers should watch out for when picking this one up. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, especially if you’re not in a hurry and looking for a slow-burn, character-driven book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

thewordapothecary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.5

Mostly I’m just confused. Why the hell did I just read an entire book to basically have no closure for the main plot. There’s unnecessary trauma included in the book that totally could’ve been left out. Elle is the unluckiest character, and I know that bad things happen to lots of people… but her life was one bad thing after the other. She’s a bad person. The one good thing that’s ever happened in her life and she acts like she could easily give it up. The only thing saving this book from a one star is the last handful of chapters and even that is a stretch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

ellljayyy's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

jayjm94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

It’s a beautifully written, emotional novel about love, marriage, family, violence and a very old beach home. I read it in about 24 hours, I couldn’t put it down from the first line. With that said the plot is winding, tense, and brutal at times. I never felt like the upsetting scenes were overwrought though. The main character is flawed and makes a series of choices throughout the novel that ultimately come to make perfect sense. The ending is ambiguous, but I enjoyed it and felt it was earned.  To read this book in a beach house or even on a lake would be divine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, and Incest

Minor: Mental illness and Murder

judebox's review against another edition

Very hesitant at the start as already on the second page the protagonist describes herself as having big breasts. Feels like it was written by a man. Obsessed with hymens. Unpleasant main character that makes horrible decision, yet I‘m supposed to relate to her.

Also, in the end there was too much trauma for me. Too difficult to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

bethaniethebeast's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Miranda Cowley Heller is an excellent writer, but sometimes this book was "prose-y" to the point of reminding me that I'm reading a book. I don't like the characters but I understand them and relate to them. This book does an excellent job of exploring generational trauma, but I have to say HUGE trigger warning for child abuse and SA, that fully caught me off guard. Overall was an interesting read and I recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

omfgeleanor's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

wally81481's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cancer and Drug use