Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Spinning

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

lilaceous's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

4.0

impact - ⭐️

illustrations - ⭐️

effective storytelling - ⭐️

engaging to read - .5⭐️

would recommend - .5⭐️

tillie walden’s skill as a visual storyteller really shines in this memoir. it was an impactful read for me because even though it’s a memoir, i saw a lot of my teenaged self in it.

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mel_muses's review against another edition

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4.5

Oh, I love Tillie Walden's storytelling. Tillie wrote in her author's note that this book became something that got away from her; it's not exactly how things happened in her life, but what's accurate about them is the emotions they convey. This is the key in memoirs, and it shines particularly in graphic memoirs.

I felt and hoped and feared along with Tillie the entire way through. I know it took a lot of bravery to be so honest about her experiences as a young queer woman, dealing with others' expectations and homophobia. But I truly believe that sharing this part of her story is going to help so many other young people understand themselves, and know it's okay to quit sometimes.

Content Warnings: depictions of depression, car accidents, sexual harassment, homophobia, lesbophobia

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driedmintleaves's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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c100's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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vanevill's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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d12inspiration's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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knkoch's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

I was surprised by this darker and often grim graphic memoir. My library copy indicates it’s aimed at a teen audience, and with its bright pastel cover, I was not expecting what it held. I’d describe this more as a memoir from the author’s teen years (12-17) and their struggle with mental health, coming of age, and trauma as it coincided with their competitive skating career. It’s not light at all, though it’s not as if teen-level books should avoid grappling with very serious topics.

It was beautifully illustrated and written, just very sad. It reminded me of The Discomfort of Evening in the family dynamics and parental treatment of a rather unloved child. I was a little dismayed not to see some sort of epilogue; I guess I was just hoping the author was doing better now, or had found help in dealing with what she went through. I know that’s not required, but she’d done such a good job with getting me to care deeply about herself as the protagonist in this narrative that I wanted that.

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